


Away From The Doctor

by I_msorrymylove



Series: The Kayla Hark series [4]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-13 01:24:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 114,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18458597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_msorrymylove/pseuds/I_msorrymylove
Summary: When Kayla left the Doctor to work with Jack at Torchwood, she was expecting the darker lifestyle it would bring, but how will this new lifestyle influence the grieving Time Lady as she separates herself from her life and relationship with her Bonded, the Doctor? Will she even continue it, or will she be consumed by Torchwood life? Fourth in the Kayla Hark Series. Light Doctor/OC





	1. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Pt. 1

**Author's Note:**

> This a copy of my fanfiction that is also on fanfiction net which is where I upload primarily. I'm under the same name so feel free to check it out! 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or Torchwood!

**Hello and welcome to the first chapter of Away From The Doctor. My name is I'msorrymylove and if you're here, you've probably already read the three books that came before this one in the Kayla Hark Series. If you've been able to do that then congrats, y'all are rock stars. I think I've grown a lot as a writer since those three books, and I hope you guys see that.**

**If you haven't read the first three books, then you probably should at least skim them. Otherwise you guys will have a lot of trouble understanding what is going on in this. I tried to explain a lot in the first bit of this chapter, but background is always a good thing to have.**

**This book is different from the others. It's listed as a Doctor Who, Torchwood crossover, but that's mainly because Kayla is a Time Lady, and thinks and indirectly mentions the Doctor a lot. The Doctor doesn't hang out with Torchwood or vice versa, so in that way it's not a traditional crossover. I did try that, but it just felt forced.**

**Currently, Kayla Hark is in her 2nd regeneration as a Time Lady. She's Chines, with long black hair that is usually pulled up in a loose bun or a pony tail and dark brown eyes. She wears a lot of long sleeve tops, dark skinny jeans, and a pair of black steel-toed boots she got while on the _Valiant._ I picture her to look like Li Xiaoran, who is a Chinese actress, dancer, and model.**

**Before I officially begin, I would like to put a trigger warning. If talking about miscarriages, unhealthy self-medication with drugs and alcohol, and/or depression with slight suicidal thoughts is trigger for you, then I would not recommend reading this book since it is full of that. I have another Doctor Who OC on my account, Dezi, which would hopefully work better. If you are uncomfortable with cursing and mentions of sex, then this is also not the book for you. It's rated M because Torchwood is pretty mature and the characters curse and act in mature situations.**

**With that out of the, I am so happy to finally start Away From The Doctor. I hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

"Are we going to stay here all night?"

The sentence was important, not for its contents. No, the juvenile question had no meaning besides drawing the speaker's companion's attention back to the present. While it had worked, that was also not the reason why the sentence was important.

The words, hoarse and soft as they were, were the first ones spoken by Kayla Harkness' second regeneration after she had left with her father, Captain Jack Harkness, though she only ever, save for rare, life-threatening occasions, called him anything other than Jack.

When they had conned together, after they had overcome the shock of their relationship, Kayla never called Jack her father, or dad, or especially  _da_ _ddy._ She had told him it was too dangerous, a sentiment he agreed with, but she knew that was only one part of the reason why she had stayed away from any family-relationship with Jack. That reason had a name: Lucy.

Her first child she had lost – the mere thought of the second one made Kayla shiver and draw her arms against her, folding them across her chest in an act of protection. It was too soon to go over  _that_ hurt – had broken her in a way not even the Time Agency usually did to its victims. Children could be made to work, could be used for leverage against parents. Killing a child would not only take away a point of labor, but also make the child's parents a waste of space.

Kayla had never understood that last part, but had accepted it. She had been indifferent to children, seeing them sometimes as cute, but never as something that would break her if she ever had one. Not until she held her own child in her arms, watching her  _die_ in her arms, did Kayla understand.

Jack had been the way to save her from completely breaking, and he had promised to do it again.

Which was why Kayla stood with Jack on the roof of a building nearby the place he lovingly called the "Hub."

If anyone were to look at the roof, they would see the odd pair. Kayla was Chinese, with black hair pulled back into a loose bun, and clothes of muted color. Her dark red shirt with long sleeves was the only color on her, her pants, jeans, were a dark gray and her shoes, steel-toed boots, were black. Only a few paces away, Jack seemed to suck in all the life around him, reflecting it out in a spasm of larger than life blue clothes and a noticeable great coat.

Jack turned, as if only  _now_ hearing Kayla's voice. He glanced at her, his eyes taking her in as if she was stranger, which she was. Regeneration changed everything about the person, and Kayla was no exception to that fact even if she had been human previously.

As she calmly met Jack's wandering eyes, once a similar color to her own but now a stark contrast of his blue and her dark brown, Kayla was served with a reminder that she didn't know  _who_  she was. Not in this regeneration, at least.

"Can you see through a perception filter?"

Kayla frowned at the question, "You know I can't."

She winced when she saw the way Jack looked away, the reminder in her voice bringing him back to all that had happened over the past year. A year that never existed according to time, but existed for everyone on the bridge of the  _Valiant_ when time itself had reversed. Even time could make mistakes though, and Kayla had found that out the unspeakably hard way.

"Right," Jack muttered. He shook his head and flashed Kayla a smile, all memories suppressed behind a cocky flare, "They've changed the locks, but we can get in through the garage."

Kayla moved closer to Jack, ignoring the itching sensation on her skin and the knot growing her stomach as she did so, "Where is the garage?" She asked as she peered over the edge of the roof.

When Jack moved beside her, pretending to not notice the way she stepped away from him, he pointed to a seemingly vacant building, "That's the exit," he informed her, "Now if we go-"

He cut himself off as a black SUV came from the building, speeding off into the night.

It came as no surprise to Kayla that Jack turned on his heel and sprinted for the stairs. She followed him, though not at the pace he was keeping, but at a slow jog.

* * *

Kayla still wasn't sure how Jack had gotten hold of a car, much less a car that was able to, at least to her, match the Torchwood SUV. Jack had talked to her on the roof about all the stuff he had pilfered from different centuries, focusing on items he had used for his benefit. Perhaps in another time – body, her mind corrected – she would have laughed that Jack had made a substitute for Retcon in the 21st century or that he had used Chulu engineering to make the SUV faster than any car, but she didn't. It  _bothered_ her that Jack was messing around with timelines. Sure, the Time Agency taught rudimentary knowledge, but Kayla knew that it wasn't enough to predict outcomes from just "messing about."

She knew that her issue with Jack messing about was hypocritical to the extreme considering Jack was just copying the Doctor in his travels through time, but Jack hadn't been to the Time Lord Academy, nor had he spent centuries of his life dedicated to the complex knowledge of the rights and wrongs of time travel. Neither had she, really, which was why she was determined if – when – she rejoined the Doctor, she wouldn't mess with time.

She would be better than her all too human first regeneration.

She shivered lightly at where her thoughts had taken her. Regeneration was strange with how it had changed her morals. She had once longed to be human and Time Lord the way only the Doctor seemed to have mastered, but now, sitting in a car with her all too human father and chasing after a group of very, very human rashness, Kayla couldn't help but feel separated from the entire situation. It wasn't that she didn't care, it was just that she wasn't very concerned.

It made her feel alien, which she supposed she was.

She was brought back forcibly to the present by Jack jerking the SUV to a halt. When she looked over at him, she could see a frown firmly on his face, "They were chasing something," he pointed out with a nod towards a red convertible, one of its tires blown, parked in front of a house.

Now focused on the situation, Kayla looked towards one of the few houses with its lights on, "They're in there," she said firmly, hearing the faint yells from the group.

Looking like he wanted to ask how, Jack seemed to think that time was their friend and instead got out of the car and jogged to the house indicated, Kayla following at a slightly slower pace. The pair snuck in, listening as a female voice read out, "Massive levels of adrenalin, mixed with approximately three grammes of cocaine," there was almost a bemused note to her added, "This fish is wired," that came after her information.

"So," a taunting voice called out, a voice that made Jack pause and his body set. He motioned to a wall and the pair hid, just able to make out the back view of the majority of the team, "this is Team Torchwood," the voice continued, "The teacher's pets. But teacher's gone, hasn't he? Leaving the kiddy kids all alone. And look at you, trying so hard to be all grown up."

Kayla was surprised the group was letting the fish taunt them. From what Jack had told her, Torchwood did not wait around for hostile aliens to speak, but a sneaky look told her  _why_ the team was letting this unfold in front of them. The alien, a red blowfish, was holding a gun to terrified woman's head. And while the team were pointing their own guns at the blowfish, it was easy to see why none of them would want to risk shooting the wrong person.

"The doctor, with his hands full of blood," the blowfish said, his description matching up with Owen Harper, the Torchwood Team medic. Jack had mentioned something about the man shooting him and nearly ending the world, but in the same breath he had described Owen as a good soul and a good person.

"The carer, with her oh-so-beating-heart," the blowfish continued, describing, Kayla assumed, Gwen Cooper. She was a Welsh woman that Jack had stolen from her everyday life to, as the blowfish had said, make the Torchwood group care again. The way Jack had gone on about her, Kayla had almost started to picture her as the TARDIS, or at least Torchwood's version. Empathetic, took the team where they  _needed_ to go…it made Kayla more than a bit nervous to meet the woman.

If anyone could see through her cracks, it would be the person Jack had described.

"The technician, with her cold devices," the blowfish added, his words now describing the only other woman on the team, Toshiko Sato, lovingly called 'Tosh' by the people around her. Jack hadn't gone into her background much, just briefly skimming over how he had sprung her from UNIT and how she was the only one he could argue was innocent still, and even that was a stretch.

"Which leaves me with the office boy, promoted beyond his measure," the blowfish finished, his words making Kayla shivered at remember fear. Ianto Jones had been the one to greet the Doctor and herself when they had been captured by Torchwood because of Kayla'a own actions. Jack had promised he was different, that he was an emotional, sweet, and an altogether kind person, but Kayla hadn't believed him. It was the first time she had ever looked at Jack and thought with such certainty that he wasn't telling the full truth, and that thought only made her wary of Ianto.

Anyone connected to Torchwood One was  _wrong._

"All of you, lost without your master," the blowfish taunted, now speaking the group once more. Next to her, in the dark of the hallway just out of sight of the group and the alien, Kayla pretended that she didn't feel Jack stiffen at the word the blowfish had ended his sentence on, the same way he pretended he didn't hear her breathing hitch momentarily, "All of you, pretending to be so brave. All of you, so scared."

A wet smacking noise reached their ears, and a woman made a high-pitched whimpering noise, "So, what about it, minion? Can you do it? How good are you? How sharp is your aim? What if you kill her? What if I kill her first? Can you shoot before I do? Can you? Dare you? Would you? Won't you?"

When Kayla would look back on that night, she still didn't know when she grabbed Jack's gun, but suddenly it was in her hand and she was moving around Ianto and shooting the blowfish directly in the head, sending it flying to the ground. Dead.

None of the team moved for a few moments after the gun had rang out. But then they all turned, staring directly at Kayla and Jack. Kayla stared back, taking in the faces of Torchwood Three, described to her through hushed whispers from Jack on the  _Valiant_ and then later in the waning afternoon on a rooftop. These were the people Jack felt kinship too, proclaimed as family, as the best of the best of 21st Century Earth.

Yet all Kayla saw was a group of humans who were all gaping at the pair in front of them with a mixture of shock, joy, and frustration.

"Hey, kids. Did you miss me?"

* * *

The drive, park, and walk to the Hub was made in silence. Only when they entered the sewer-like space, its ceiling stretching up into a dome, did anyone start to speak, "Are you sure no more of him came through?" Gwen asked, her words clearly directed to Tosh as she stood next to the now sitting down woman, watching as she started to type on the computer. Like good workers, they had all gone to their workspaces, Owen with the blowfish as well, to start to work on assignments that hadn't been given but were going to come.

"Cross-referencing with the rift activity monitor. Doesn't look like it," Tosh answered after a brief pause for her to scan the screen in front of her.

Giving her a smile, Gwen turned to a waiting Ianto, "The car's been impounded. I'll get it back to the owner in the morning," he reported, earning himself a smile as well.

Kayla watched from the side as Gwen moved over to Owen, "How are you doing?"

"Bio-profile's onscreen now. Nothing in his genetic make-up liable to contaminate the city," Owen reported.

Gwen nodded, "Okay. Tosh, can you add that to the species database?" When Tosh replied that she was on it, the welsh woman nodded again, "Ianto?"

It was unnerving to the Time Lady the way Ianto appeared next to Gwen as if he had always been there, when Kayla was positive he had been across the Hub only seconds before, "Hello," he greeted his co-worker, and boss, it seemed, with a polite smile.

"Sorry. Can you deal with the body when it's cold?"

"My pleasure. And I'll be making sushi."

Gwen's nose scrunched up at the joking remark, "No, the morgue'll do fine, thank you."

"Got pretty organized without me," Jack commented from Kayla's left, making the Time Lady shift as four pairs of eyes, so suddenly darkening, turned to the two against the wall. In her old body, she would have called attention to herself sooner, jumped in to answer that of course the blowfish wasn't toxic because that's not how its planet worked, but now she was more than happy to stay on the sideline where it was safe.

"Yeah, well we had to," Gwen replied back coldly, lifting an eyebrow in a clear challenge.

Jack took it, the way Kayla  _knew_ he would, "I mean, did you decorate in here?" He asked, more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Gwen pushed Jack back into the wall, glaring at him furiously, "You left us, Jack!" She snapped.

Kayla's time with the Master had changed her, and the regeneration had built on those changes. She knew, in her old body, she would have jumped to Jack's defense and push Gwen back just as hard, but this regeneration…this one pressed back against the wall. The only sign that she was angry with the situation was the way her breathing sharpened and her arms crossed defiantly over her chest.

"I know. I'm sorry," Jack replied. His voice, normal in tone and volume, made Kayla relax. She stopped pressing against the wall, though she still held close to it.

She told herself it was because she didn't want to get involved, that this was Jack's fight and not hers, but that, she knew, was a lie. Kayla didn't get involved because she felt no need to. She liked Jack, perhaps even loved him, but she wasn't going to put herself out there for a fight that didn't involve her in the first place; that would be stupid!

"We knew nothing Jack," Gwen was saying, still shouting at her boss, when Kayla focused back in on the conversation.

"Where were you?" Tosh asked, moving from her seat to eye her boss.

"I found my Doctor," Jack answered. When Kayla glanced over at him, she saw a small smile growing as he remembered those few days when it had just been the Doctor, Martha, Jack, and Kayla. It had been fun for a few hours, even with how angry Kayla was at the Doctor, but then the Master had struck back and the group had been chased and eventually captured.

"Did he fix you?" Kayla nearly snorted at the question from Owen. The Doctor had done the exact opposite when it came to Jack. Sure, he had made him a better person, but because of him he had mental scars from a year that never happened.

Everyone on board the  _Valiant_ did, even the Doctor.

"What's to fix?" Jack asked, more than a hint of his cocky swagger, though it sounded fake to Kayla's ear, "You don't mess with this level of perfection."

"Are you going back to him?"

Jack fixed Ianto, the person who had asked the question, with a strong look, "I came back for you," he paused and then looked at the rest of Torchwood, " _All_ of you," he added.

Their questions for their boss mostly done, the group looked over at Kayla with blatant curiosity, "And her?" Gwen asked, her arms crossing in a similar posture to the Time Lady's.

"We're old friends," Kayla informed the group, her posture straightening as she prepared the story she and Jack had come up with, "We ran into each other and I decided to join him for a bit. I won't get in the way of your work. I'm just here to watch."

The group seemed satisfied with her answer, though she could tell by the way both Gwen and Tosh were eyeing her that they would want to question her later, though the Time Lady had a feeling it would be about Jack's past rather than herself. Perhaps they would have started on the questions then, Gwen seemed like the person to want people she was angry at to squirm a bit, but an alarm beeped on one of Tosh's many devices.

"Rift activity," she stated. Grabbing a hand-held version of the beeping device, she started for the door with the team joining her. Jack hurried after her as well, leaving Kayla to look around the Hub one last time before she joined them.

If they had stayed a bit longer, they would have heard a beeping noise coming from the pocket of the blowfish's pants, as if the Rift activity was connected to something larger.

* * *

Tosh's device led the group to a crime scene. A man was lying on the ground, as if he had jumped from the top of the parking garage.

Kayla had been to plenty of crime scenes while with the Time Agency, but this was her first in 21st Century Earth. Still, the scenes seemed to run together with their similarity. The local authorities cut the area off with some sort of clear marker, photos were taken, fingerprints were obtained, and if any witnesses were close to the crime, their reports were taken as well. This crime scene, though it lacked the witness aspect, was no different.

What  _was_ different was the metallic taste in the air, one that grew more and more pronounced as Kayla walked on the roof of the parking garage, only somewhat paying attention to the team, largely with Jack's help, deciding the dead person had been grabbed and pushed by whatever had come through the Rift.

She was more than happy to go back down with the group, standing with them by the SUV as Tosh packed away her equipment and Jack started to give orders. While Gwen protested lightly, Kayla stopped paying attention to the conversations around her. Not because she didn't care, though she really  _didn't_ care, but because something in her back pocket had just warmed as it buzzed.

When Kayla and Jack had decided to keep the Time Agent and Time Lady aspects of her from Torchwood, she had decided her Vortex Manipulator should go in her back pocket. Not only would it be hard to notice, but she could also easily excuse it as a phone, which it was able to function as.

The fact that it was buzzing was  _not good._ There were only a few people who were able to contact her, and only one of them was someone she wanted to be around, and she  _knew_ it wasn't that person because he was standing next to her and arguing with Gwen over who got to drive.

Her jaw setting, she decided to ignore the buzzing for now. If she was lucky, it was someone who wouldn't call –

"Whoa, that never beeps," Ianto's voice, even when a prisoner at Torchwood One, was never more unwelcomed than that moment when he pointed out to the entire team the faint beeping was Jack's Vortex Manipulator.

Kayla watched as Jack glanced about, only to frown at the way the entire team was eyeing him. He looked over at Kayla, only to get an unhelpful shrug from her. Grudgingly, Jack filled the cover off his manipulator, "That's what I was thinking," he grumbled as he accepted the call.

It really shouldn't have come as such a horrible surprise when a familiar, attitude-filled voice started talking as Jack played the message, but Kayla couldn't stop herself from moving back from the hologram. Of all the people that could have decided to appear, why, oh why, did it  _have_ to be  _him?_

" _I can't believe I got the answer machine. What can you be doing that's more important than me?"_ John Hart, the father of Kayla's first child, asked Jack with a raised eyebrow,  _"Anyway, you've probably traced the energy shift, found the body. All me. Sorry about the mess. Bill me for the clean up,"_ he waved his hand at Jack, already dismissing a bill he hadn't received,  _"Now. Drinks. Retrolock the transmission coordinates, that's where I am. And hurry up. Work to do,"_ giving Jack his impression of a severe look, he almost instantly humored up once more as he adopted a poor-female voice,  _"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope,"_ bending down and looking to the left, the message ended.

Jack looked over at Kayla first, clearly assessing her. She gave him a tight smile in return, which was enough for him to nod and turn to the rest of the team, "Stay here," he ordered, "Don't follow us."

"Us?" Tosh protested even as Kayla started to make her way to the passenger seat of the SUV.

"Who was that?" Gwen asked.

Jack shook his head, "Stay here," he repeated. He jogged the rest of his way to the SUV and got into the driver seat and drove off, leaving a befuddled and frustrated team behind him.

After a few minutes, Kayla took out her own Vortex Manipulator and rotated it in her hands, careful to not touch any of the buttons on it, "He called me. Just before he called you," she informed Jack.

She watched as Jack's jaw clenched at this new information, "Are you going to listen to it?"

"No. He'll know that I have."

As they pulled to a stop thanks to a stop light, though why it was working at two in the morning was beyond Kayla, the Time Lady handed the manipulator over to Jack. Eyeing her carefully, he placed the manipulator just above his own, which eclipsed hers thanks to the size difference.

"I'll hang back," Kayla stated as Jack started to drive once more, "Once you've implied that I've died, I'll draw attention to myself."

Pulling into the parking for the location, Bar Reunion, Jack eyed Kayla again, "You up to this?" He asked with a careful tone, "With everything you've been through, I don't want you to overexert-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll slap you," Kayla threatened with a slight smile, "I'm  _fine,_ Jack," she added more seriously.

Nodding, Jack gave Kayla a cocky smile that was just a  _bit_ too tight for her to fully believe, "Let's do this."

Trailing behind him, the two walked into the bar. John stood out, not only because of the bright red jacket he wore, but because the bar was completely empty. He had a line of different, colorful shots in front of him, and as they entered he downed one before he turned on his heel and walked towards Jack. Only from knowing him for so long was Kayla able to see the slight pause in his step as he took in the lack of another person. When he stopped fully in front of Jack, Kayla could tell by the way his shoulders had tightened that he had come to an unhappy conclusion.

Still, John was, well, John. He didn't  _do_ unhappy. So it came as no surprise to her when John lunged forwards and started to aggressively make out with Jack. And Jack? He was certainly not complaining and giving quite a bit back to his old partner.

Logically, Kayla knew that seeing her  _father_ kiss someone should disgust her, but she had been around Jack far longer as a partner and a friend rather than his daughter. It wasn't unusual for either of them to play wingman for the other.

What  _was_ disgusting about the kiss was its neatness level, or rather, its lack of one. John was not a neat kisser, especially when he was making a point, which he was doing with the kiss to Jack. He had seen her as she walked in and had taken her as a threat to his and Jack's relationship. The kiss was John's way of telling Kayla to back off.

Jack was the one that ended the kiss first. The two eyed each other, panting heavily. Kayla watched, remaining firmly away from the two as John swung and punched Jack. With a laugh, Jack punched back. Soon, the two were outright brawling, with both getting thrown through glass, onto the bar top, and against the wall. The fight only ended when John and Jack both pulled their guns and pointed it at each other's head.

"You're putting on weight," John taunted as the two started to circle each other.

"You're losing your hair," Jack shot back.

"What are you wearing?"

"Captain Jack Harkness, note the stripes.

"Captain John Hart, note the sarcasm."

"Hey, I worked my way through the ranks," Jack protested.

John smirked, "I bet the ranks were grateful," he seemed disappointed when Jack didn't take the innuendo's bait, "I need a drink."

"I thought you'd never ask," Jack breathed, dropping his gun.

The fight now over, the two men went over to the bar, with Kayla following behind. She sat down next to Jack, peering around him to watch John pour two shot glasses, slide them over to Jack, and down the rest of the bottle of vodka.

After a few seconds of John  _still_ drinking, Jack finally asked, "So, how was rehab?"

"Rehabs. Plural," John corrected with a smirk.

"Drinks, drugs, sex, and-" Jack listed off.

"Murder," John answered.

Kayla snorted softly while Jack outright laughed. It wasn't unusual for Time Agents to be forced to rehab by the Time Agency to the point where  _not_ going to rehab implied you were a poor agent. Murder rehab, however, was treated differently. Not only did it mean you were probably a psychopath, though that wasn't that big of a deal in the Time Agency, it also meant you had gotten so sloppy on a few of the jobs that the agency had to send you to rehab to appear like they disapproved of the murdering. After all, to the rest of the universe, the Time Agency was supposed to be a responsible group that made sure time stayed corrected.

"You went to murder rehab?" Jack questioned, still chuckling at the reveal.

John laughed a bit as well, "I know. Ridiculous," he said with a shake of his head, "The odd kill, who does it hurt?"

Rolling his eyes at the statement, Jack eyed John, "You clean now?"

John snorted, "Yeah, kicked everything," he deadpanned, "Living like a priest."

To back up this statement, he took another long drink of his vodka bottle.

"So," Jack started, his tone taking a more serious air to it, "how's the Time Agency?"

"You didn't hear?" At the clear confusion on Jack's face, John shook his head and frowned, "It's shut down."

"You're kidding me."

"No. There's only seven of us left now. Six, if the other person I called doesn't come."

Frowning, Jack glanced down at his wrist. The move was blatant and did what he wanted it to do: Draw John's gaze down to Kayla's Vortex Manipulator.

"Oh," Kayla had heard John say that word with that tone only a few times, and all those times it was when he was  _so_ unnerved by something he was near speechless, "Just six then," he said slowly.

Kayla was almost touched when John grabbed a whiskey and poured it into three shot glasses. He passed two of them down, keeping one for himself so they all had one in front of them. With a serious expression on his face, he raised his glass, "To the fallen."

"To the fallen," Jack and Kayla repeated. The three of them downed the glass.

"Who's that with you, then?" John asked Kayla after the toast.

"I'm Kay," Kayla introduced, shortening her name without even thinking about it.

John nodded. He eyed her carefully, assessing her. In response, Kayla crossed her arms but didn't move from John's gaze, waiting for him to finish. He nodded slowly, and looked back at Jack, already deciding that 'Kay' wasn't worth his energy, "It's good to see you. It was never the same with you."

"You need to go," Jack replied, "I don't want you on my territory."

John moved back from Jack, "What? Time was you couldn't get enough of me on your territory," shaking his head at Jack, he got up from his seat and shot at the glass doors at either end of the bar, "All right, everyone out," he yelled.

Like well trained dogs, the Torchwood team, two on either end, slunk out with their guns drawn and pointed at John. At their appearance Jack shot to his feet and move closer to John, leaving Kayla watching at the bar.

"Everything all right, you two?" Gwen called, either having the mind to not out Kayla's identity or just not wanting to waste time calling out two names.

"It's okay, okay, okay," Jack repeated, eyeing all the team members and John as he spoke.

"You've got a team. How sweet," John taunted, smirking at  _all_ of Torchwood, "Oh, pretty little friends. No blonde, though. You need a blonde," giving a particularly flirty look to Tosh, who blushed under it, John looked back at Jack, "Oh, oh do you have a team name?" He asked, "I love team names. Go on."

"Torchwood," it was Kayla that answered, getting up from her seat to stand next to Jack, her arms crossing, "That's Torchwood in the 21st Century."

She had the pleasure in watching John swallow noticeably hard at the answer. Torchwood had continued to endure into the 51st Century, becoming something that even the Time Agency stayed away from. Torchwood was fiercer, harder, and had far more resources than the Time Agency could  _dream_ to have, and that was them not at their full strength. The 21st Century for Torchwood was widely considered their golden age, and John, who likely knew that, would  _not_ want to be around them.

"Oh," John said, echoing the same tone as when he had found out about Kayla's 'death,' "Not Excalibur? Blizzard? Bikini Cops? No? Torchwood. Oh, dear."

Jack had a slight smirk on his face as he pointed to each of the team, "Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, meet-"

"Captain John Hart," John cut in, introducing himself with a cocky half-smile.

"We go back," Jack explained with a shrug.

"Excuse me," John snapped with a roll of his eyes, "We  _more_ than go back. We were partners," he informed the Torchwood team, the emphasis on his last word leaving not much to be imagined.

Kayla was not surprised that Ianto was the one to ask, "In what way?"

It also did not surprise her when John, taking in Ianto, straightened up and set his jaw, "In  _every way._ And then some," he answered with a smirk, seeing the way Ianto flinched at the words.

"It was two weeks," Jack protested slightly. When Kayla glanced back at him, it was clear to her that he meant every word for Ianto, even with his body angled towards John.

"Except that two weeks was trapped in a time loop, so we were together for five years," John elaborated with an almost fond shake of his head, "It was like having a wife."

At that statement, Jack turned to John with an exasperated face, " _You_ were the wife."

" _You_ were the wife," John shot back.

"No, you were the wife."

"Oh, but I was a good wife," John pointed out, almost manically grinning.

"I bet you were," at the statement from Tosh, the Torchwood team along with John, Kayla, and Jack turned to stare at the woman, making her blush and look down.

"What?" Owen asked, staring at his co-worker like she had lost her mind.

Tosh blushed more at the question, "Don't pretend you haven't noticed," she hissed back, "He's cute."

"They're just shy," John reassured with a very flirtatious look.

"Why are you here?" Kayla asked, drawing John's attention to her and off of the blushing Tosh.

John pouted at the question, but still turned to face her all the same, "I was wondering when we'd get to that," he muttered. Moving his wrist up, he pulled back the sleeve of his red jacket to started to use his Vortex Manipulator.

"That's the same as yours," Tosh blurted out. When Kayla glanced over at her, she raised her eyebrow at the accusatory look she was aiming at Jack.

"A little smaller," Jack pointed out.

John rolled his eyes, "But lasts  _much_ longer," he shot back, "Get two Time Agents in the same room together, it's always about the size of the wrist strap."

"Yes, sorry, what's a Time Agent?" Owen snapped, giving equally hostile looks to Jack  _and_ John  _and_ Kayla. At her inclusion, the Time Lady crossed her arms at the medic and stepped to the side, making sure she was  _not_ included.

"What," John started slowly with a grin that just screamed that he was loving every moment, "he's never told you about his past?"

"No," Gwen said darkly, "he hasn't."

Giving a smirk to Jack, John went back to his manipulator and tapped a few buttons, "Anyway," he started, pulling up a hologram of a cannister, "I'm working with this woman. Beautiful, clever, sexy, yadda yadda yadda, and we both get shot. And as she's dying, she begs me. She tells me about these radiation cluster bombs she'd been working on."

"I don't like the sound of that," Owen grumbled.

John nodded, "Three canisters, contents beyond toxic, swallowed up in a rift storm," he continued to explain.

"And ended up here," Tosh finished for him with a half-frown.

"Bingo," John agreed with a wink, making Tosh blush once again, "That's the downside of your city being built on a rift in space and time. Now, left to their own devices, the radiation will break down the canisters and then infect your people and planet. They need to be neutralized."

"What are you getting out of this?" Kayla asked, her arms still crossed as she gave John an accusatory look, "We're not stupid. We  _know_ how this works."

John frowned at her, "It's a dying woman's wish," he pointed out with more than a hint of a protest his voice, "Even  _I_ hate the idea of it going unfulfilled," trying, and failing in Kayla's opinion, to give the group a sincere look, he started to explain about the information once more, "Now, there's only one problem. I don't know where they are. Hoping local knowledge might help."

"When we get back to the Hub, I can run a citywide scan on radiation surges and cross reference that with the Rift activity during that time span," Tosh suggested slowly.

"What are you, the brain and the beauty?" John wondered, making Tosh blush  _again,_ "You see, together this an easy job."

"We do this," Jack started slowly, "you get out of here when its finished.  _Right_ away."

John just smirked, "Does this mean I get to see your house?"

* * *

The ride and entrance to the Hub was a silent affair for the team. As Jack decided to take John through the tourist entrance, Kayla waited with the team, her arms crossed as she eye the area in the ceiling that she  _didn't_ want to look at. She recognized that feeling from just a year and a few days ago when the Doctor slipped a key around his neck.

She winced at the memories  _that_ brought up and, without even thinking about it, placed a hand on her stomach. Swallowing hard, she moved her hand away and crossed her arms, her hands clenching at her forearms.

Thankfully, no one had seen her slip. Tosh was typing away furiously on her computer, Owen was in the conference room inhaling coffee, Gwen was speaking to Ianto in a hushed tone, and Ianto was nodding along to whatever Gwen was saying.

Which left Kayla alone, staring at the spot in the ceiling and waiting…waiting…waiting.

It was almost a relief when the spot started to lower and John and Jack started to come into view.

"It's roomy, I'll give you that," John said in a very unimpressed voice, "Your taste in interior design hasn't got any better, though. What is this, sewer chic?"

As the slab they were standing on hit the ground, Jack stepped off and joined Kayla and a shortly arrived Gwen, who was holding a device curtesy of Tosh, and Ianto, who was holding a silver tray. When John made a move to follow him, Jack held out his hand, "Weapons."

While he rolled his eyes, John still easily handed over his two obvious guns and his sword. The ease of which he did this made Kayla very suspicious, a feeling that was shared by Jack, who snapped, "And the rest."

"Oh, you know me. I'm a two weapon man," John tried.

Pressing a button on the device, Gwen started to read the reading aloud, "One pistol strapped to each leg, laser knife beneath left elbow, seventeen small explosive charges in the lining of his coat," this exercise went on for quite some time, until finally, finally, Gwen turned off the machine and said, "There's nothing left."

John glanced at the overflowing tray Ianto was struggling to hold level and gave Jack an easy smile, "It slipped my mind."

* * *

Kayla stayed against the back of the conference room of the Hub where the team and John had gathered. Her arms were crossed as she watched Tosh explain the Rift monitor to John with obvious pride in her voice. John had bluntly flirted back, and while Tosh had blushed under the attention, she had kept talking about her invention.

"So that's how we're able to tell where the Rift activity is," Tosh finished, "Seven hours ago, we logged a minor surge in Rift energy across three locations."

Kayla was not surprised when John clapped his hands together, "Seven of us, three locations. That's simple. Two people for two of the cannisters and one with three."

"Excuse me," Jack snapped, "I give the orders."

John crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, "Well, give some, big boy."

"John's right," Gwen cut in before Jack could say anything, "Sorry. Do you prefer John or Captain?"

John gave Gwen a very large smirk, "With eyes like yours, you can call me Vera, I won't complain."

Gwen nodded and started to doll out orders, "Tosh and Owen, take the north. Ianto and Jack, go west. Me and Vera'll take the docks."

Kayla frowned, "What about me?" She asked.

Gwen pursed her lips, "Why don't you go with Jack and Ianto?" She suggested, though her tone implied that it was anything  _but_  a suggestion.

Glancing at John, Kayla crossed her arms but nodded all the same. When John looked over at her in turn, his eyebrow raised, she refused to take the bait he was throwing at her and instead just looked over at Jack as he protested about the grouping, only to back down when Gwen challenged him.

"Now, given the canisters are radioactive, don't open them, eh?" John advised, laughing at his own suggestion.

As the team headed out on Gwen's order, Jack pointed at Gwen to hold her back, which she didn't protest, leaving Kayla and the rest of the team to walk out of the Hub and stand awkwardly around until Jack and Gwen exited. Kayla had the very large suspicion that if she had not been there, the team would have been talking, but her inclusion made them whisper to each other occasionally, likely because they were suspicious of her. Kayla didn't blame them for this. If anything, she was glad they seemed to have somewhat good senses when it came to strangers.

Nevertheless, it was somewhat of a relief as she stepped in line with Jack. Even Ianto's inclusion was preferable to the silence from earlier, and was more than preferable to being around  _John._

* * *

**And there's the first chapter I only didn't even realize how many changes this plot went through until I was editing it to post it. Originally Kayla went with John, and even before that John knew who Kayla was. Both didn't meld with 2nd regeneration Kayla, so they were replaced with her going with Jack and Ianto and John not knowing who she is.**

**When I was rewatching the series before I posted, I realized I had blocked out how...interesting the 1st season was. I think I actually preferred that in terms of creativity over series 2, but then again series 2 did have a plot line and didn't have aliens that use sex to kill so that's a huge plus for it.**

**I don't really have a lot of thoughts on this chapter. A lot of it is trying to set up Kayla's new personality while introducing the personalities of Torchwood Three. Plot wise, nothing really happens until the next chapter, so look forwards to that!**


	2. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Pt. 2

Kayla felt like the third wheel as she walked out of the lift after Ianto and Jack. None of them had spoken in the ride to the building, the walk into the building, and during the lift ride. Every time Jack  _had_ made a move or even a slight noise, Ianto would shift, moving Kayla in between them like a boarder.

But now that they were out of the elevator, Jack started to talk in that bold, loud way he did when he was nervous but did not want anyone to know, "Oh, yeah. Loving that officy feel. I always get excited in these places. To me, they're exotic. Office romances. Photocopying your butt. Well, maybe not your butt, although as we're here why don't we photo-"

"The rift was active at these coordinates approximately two hundred feet above ground. That means this floor or the roof," Ianto cut off, not even cracking a smile at Jack's antics.

As Jack turned to Ianto with a serious expression on his face, Kayla ducked down beneath a desk, pretending that she was looking very, very hard for the cannister. Sure, she could still hear everything, as any old human could, but removing herself from Ianto's or  _Jack's_ line of sight made her feel better.

That was the same reason why she hadn't gone along with John – Veera now, apparently – and Gwen the way Jack wanted her to do. She had seen the look Jack had sent her when she had pointed out her lack of a role and had easily accepted not going to "monitor" the situation. She knew it was what he would have done, and it was what her old regeneration would have done, but that didn't matter to her.

She had no interest in being around John. He was her ex, the father of her first child, and a complete psychopath. Why would she  _ever_ want to be around John? And why was it her responsibility to monitor the situation? Gwen was an adult and didn't need a babysitter, nor would she appreciate one.

"Kayla! Where have you disappeared off to?"

At Jack's voice, Kayla move back from the desk and stood up. Ianto was blushing and refusing to make eye contact and Jack had that easy, blatant smile on his face, "I'm going to the roof."

Kayla nodded slowly, "I'll stay here."

While Jack was clearly displeased with this answer, he still headed off, leaving Kayla and Ianto in the office by themselves. Neither spoke to each other, Ianto still too embarrassed and Kayla wasn't in the mood to talk. She had never been much of a talker in her previous body, and that hadn't changed in this new regeneration the way so much about her had.

Even her hands were different. Every time she looked at them, they looked like stranger's hands. Stranger's hands gripping her arms as she crossed them while she peered around the room, looking for a cannister she was starting to think wasn't even there. After all, John had always lied, why would this be any different?

In the resounding silence, the ding of the elevator going off was like a scream. The noise pulled Kayla from her thoughts and, when she looked up to see Ianto staring at her, it seemed the noise had done the same for him as well. He took his gun out and held it at the ready as he started to slowly approach the elevator, Kayla following him.

When they saw no one there, Kayla grabbed Ianto's arm. The sudden contact made the Welshman tense and look at her.

Kayla heard the noise of air moving only a second before the gun was placed to the back of her head. She slowly turned her head, seeing a twin gun placed Ianto's. Making quick eye contact, the two both moved their hands up, both stiff as they waited for John to speak.

"Into the lift, eye candy and Kay."

If Ianto was confused by the different name John had called her, he didn't show it as they both walked into the elevator and turned around, now looking directly at John, who had  _three_ guns, two were his own while the newest one belonged to Ianto.

"Your friends are bleeding, and dying, and you two barely have any time to save them," John taunted, smirking at Kayla and Ianto.

Kayla didn't move while Ianto tapped at the comm. in his ear. She knew it was worthless without John's snort and shake of his head that followed this action, "What am I, a child? It's a primitive bit of technology, easily blocked. You two should be embarrassed. When you both get to the bottom, run. You look like the kind of people who enjoy a challenge. See if you can save them. Come back up here, I'll shoot on sight."

Smiling at them like a tiger, John pressed the down arrow. The lift cheerfully called out the command, which John tautly echoed, "Yes, please," he finished with a familiar leer.

As the door started to close, Kayla threw her hand out, stopping the lift, "John," she called, making John raise an eyebrow and look at her, "Jack believed in you."

Glaring at her, John made a move for his gun, but the doors were always closed and Kayla stepped back, breathing hard and her arms crossed, "We need to get Owen and Tosh first," she stated before too heavy of silence could fall.

"Gwen was with him," Ianto said with a sharp, single shake of his head, "Owen and Tosh can take care of themselves."

"John uses poisonous lip gloss. It paralyzes and slowly kills people. To get away from Gwen all he had to do was surprise her and she's out. He carries an antidote with him, but I don't know what is."

"Oh."

As the lift opened on the ground floor, Ianto and Kayla started to sprint to the SUV and got in. While Ianto started to drive, Kayla pulled up the sleeve of her shirt and used her Vortex Manipulator to call Jack, only to curse when he didn't pick up.

"Is that Jack's?"

"It's mine," Kayla said briskly as she pulled the sleeve back down over it, "John, Jack, and I were partners at the Time Agency."

Ianto didn't reply to that. The only sign that showed he had heard what she said was his hands clenching tighter on the steering wheel and the SUV accelerating just a bit more as they headed towards the warehouse where Owen and Tosh had been looking.

* * *

Kayla broke the padlock to the warehouse with a crowbar, not giving Ianto any time to argue. It came off with a clatter and the door squeaked loudly as Kayla pulled it open. The noises echoed through the warehouse, followed closely by Ianto's nerve-filled calls of Tosh and Owen.

"Ianto!" Tosh called back, her voice audibly shaking.

"Tosh!" Ianto yelled in return, starting to sprint to where her voice had come from.

"We're over here," Tosh shouted.

Following her voice, Kayla and Ianto both arrived to see Tosh on her knees next to a bloody Owen, her hands shaking as she looked over at her co-worker and Kayla, "What happened?" Ianto gasped.

"Where's Gwen? Have you heard from Gwen?"

"She's poisoned," Kayla answered, making Tosh gasp and Owen curse violently, "I know the attributes to it. Will that be enough?"

Despite the amount of pain he had to be in, Owen was still able to nod and look very determined at the prospect.

* * *

With Owen hastily patched up and Tosh giving directions to the spot where the cannister had let been in the docks, the Torchwood team and Kayla circled around the middle of the maze of different colored crates.

"If she's in one of these, we'll never find her. There's too many," Ianto groaned, "How long does the poison take?"

"A few hours," Kayla answered as she slid open the crate close to her, only to slam it shut when it revealed itself to be empty.

"Just keep looking," Tosh urged.

Opening and closing a crate of his own, Ianto took out his phone, "I'll try her phone."

Within moments, the group could hear it ringing in the distance, "Over hear," Ianto shouted as he sprinted over to the phone, which laid on the ground only a few rows away, its screen shattered.

"She must've dropped it," Owen hissed, already turning to the nearby crates to start the process of opening and closing them.

"Gwen! Gwen!" Ianto called.

"She won't be able to reply," Kayla pointed out, "Even if she can hear you."

Ianto's face fell at that, but he quickly busied himself in joining Kayla and Owen in opening more crates. The only one who wasn't opening crates was Tosh, who, when Kayla turned to look at her, was holding the cell phone with clear suspicion, "Unless it's another of Captain John's tricks," she said slowly.

"What are you doing?" Kayla asked, watching as the other woman started to work.

"If Gwen used the phone here, I can use the network to triangulate the location where she answered her last call," she answered, "Got it. This is where she made the call. Open every container door."

Moving to the area Tosh had indicated, the group started to open all the crates. After a few moments of nothing but the noise of the crate sliding open and then slamming close, Tosh's voice rang out with a triumphant, "She's in here!"

Sprinting over to her, the team and Kayla all circled around the still conscious Gwen, "Anti-toxin kit now," Owen commanded, "Gwen, hold on."

For something that was from a different time and planet, it was surprisingly easy to cure. Within thirty minutes, Owen had come up with antidote and was administering it to Gwen, massaging her throat to get her to swallow it. After a few nerve wracking moments, Gwen started to twitch. After twenty minutes of Gwen slowly regaining ability to move her body, she was sitting up and answering Owen's questions.

Once Owen had deemed her "okay" to move, the group all got to their feet and then paused, unsure of what to do next.

"Jack will have gotten John to kill him by now," Kayla stated, her arms crossing, "It's the only way John would be able to get into the Hub and get whatever that blowfish had in its pocket."

At this, the group stared at her, "What are you talking about?"

"It's a bit obvious, isn't it? The blowfish was sent by John to scope you out. That's why he knew everything about you. He probably had something of the cannisters with him as a way to make sure John didn't kill him. Plus, it was beeping when we left."

"And you didn't take it with you?"

"Of course I did," shaking her head, she pulled out the tetrahedron from her pocket and held it in her hand, "John's going to realize soon and he'll come for us."

"If he's at the Hub, we can get him there," Tosh suggested slowly, "Ambush him or something?"

* * *

With Tosh's suggestion as their official plan, the team and Kayla snuck into the Hub. Their idea was simple, the team would all get John's attention by clicking the safety off of their guns. Kayla, who didn't have a gun, would stand at the end with the tetrahedron in full display, not as a weapon, but as a bribe.

They all knew Jack would likely show up at some point, after he had licked his wounds, of course. None of the team factored him into their plans, however. It seemed the entire team had learned that with Captain Jack Harkness, plans rarely went well.

But they still went along with their plan, all clicking the safety after watching John dig in the blowfish's pockets, curse, and started to look at the floor to see if the tetrahedron had fallen there. At the sound, John slowly turned, his eyebrow raising at the sight, "Okay. Pretty and resilient. Is that even fair?"

"Maybe you didn't realize. You can beat, shoot, threaten, and even poison us, and we keep coming back stronger every time," Gwen informed John coldly, her gun never wavering as she spoke.

John rolled his eyes and smirked, "Well, I think you ought to know your boss is splayed out on the-" He cut off as Jack joined Kayla, "-Pavement," he finished much, much weaker, "Now that's impressive. Seriously, you can earn a fortune in the Vegas galaxies with an act like that. Go on, how's it work?" He asked quickly, his voice shaking.

"I can't die."

"Huh. No, but really," John pushed.

"No, but really," Jack mocked, "you can't kill me. No matter how many times you try, I can't die. Ever."

Still clearly shaken, John crossed his arms, "Hey, but what does it cost you? Every time you have to drag yourself back here, how does it feel? All that pain and trauma. Plus, you're reborn into this god forsaken mess. I pity you."

"These people, this planet, all the beauty you could never see," Jack said with a shake of his head, "That's what I come back for."

John rolled his eyes, "Well, goody you," he sneered.

"What's in the cannister, John?" Kayla called, her arms crossing, "What did you try to steal  _this_ time?"

Sending her a glare, John shrugged, "That woman I told you about had herself an Arcadian diamond. It's the rarest gem in the Damascene Cluster. Just when I'd got my hands on her, she only generates her own personal Rift storm. God, I hate technological geniuses."

"You said this was a dying woman's request," Tosh pointed out, sounding injured at the realization that they had been lied to.

"Yeah, she was dying. I shot her. Thought my luck had changed when I found it had ended up here. So, I'm thinking fifty-fifty. Even split, good deal. Or if anyone fancies an orgy?"

Thankfully, no one took him up on his offer. Instead, John was marched at gun point into Jack's office where he had set up three metal pieces in the shape of a triangle, "There's supposed to be another piece, but it's missing," he informed the others.

Yet despite the confusion in his voice, when Kayla tossed him the tetrahedron, he caught it without turning around, "Thanks, sunshine."

"Sunshine?" Kayla scoffed, her arms crossing at the nickname.

"You don't smile."

Before Kayla to refute what John had said, Jack cut in with a simple order to, "Open it."

"What, not even a please? Don't your manners get brought back to life too?"

"Now!"

Clearly enjoying every moment, John held the tetrahedron over the metal triangle, "This should give us the location of the diamond," he said as he placed it in the middle. Slowly, it fused together, becoming a projector as a young, black woman slowly appeared on top of it, "There she is," John breathed.

"The woman you murdered," Gwen practically snarled.

" _You've travelled several galaxies for this. Well done,"_ the woman said, her voice oozing flirtishly.

"Thank you gorgeous," John replied in a similar tone

" _Except, there's no diamond,"_ while John audibly protested this turn of events, the woman smirked as she continued on,  _"Only this,"_ she narrated as the device opened and a circular device rose up and pinned itself on John, making him cry out in between his rapid protests,  _"It's an explosive device which will latch on to the DNA of whoever killed me. It'll detonate in ten minutes. It can't be removed without exploding so, don't bother trying. Goodbye, lover. See you in hell."_

As the projection disappeared, everyone stared at the device on John's chest, which had pierced into his skin.

"She can't be serious. Ten minutes?" Gwen gasped, her eyes going wide.

"Actually, nine minutes fifty, forty nine, forty eight," Ianto corrected. When Kayla looked over at him, he shook the stopwatch that was in his hand, "Always at the ready."

Shaking her head, Kayla turned back to the group, "That's explosion going to be big. Is there anyway we can get him far enough underground where it won't damage anything?" At the firm negative from Jack, Kayla huffed, "Out of the city then."

"Nine minutes thirty seven."

"You've got to help me. Please," John begged

Kayla scoffed loudly while Jack just asked, "Why?"

Actually growling, John decked Jack in the face and grabbed the closest person next to him, which just happened to be Kayla. Squirming as much as she could in his grip, Kayla cursed loudly as John snapped half of a pair of handcuffs to her, the other half firmly on his own wrist.

"Let her go," Jack ordered, a look in his eyes that Kayla hadn't seen since on the  _Valiant._ It made her shiver and click her boots together, reminding herself that that time had passed and the Master was dead…dead…dead.

"Jack, it's fine," Kayla tried, her voice softer than she wanted it to be, "I'll just-"

"Explode? I don't think-"

"Get back. Back. Back off. Get back."

Without wanting to, Kayla was dragged back with John into the rest of the Hub, "They're hypersteel, impermeable, deadlock sealed. No way to undo them. Unless you have this key," John explained. With his free hand, he held the key up. Glaring at him, Kayla watched as he swallowed the key.

"You're a monster!"

"Yet strangely attractive," John taunted, ignoring Kayla's protest at that, "Now you had better find a solution pronto or she'll be blown up with me."

"Daleks will look nice when I'm done with you," Kayla snapped, not even noticing the way Jack and Ianto flinched at her words.

Rolling his eyes at the threat, John gave the group a smirk, "So, what are we gonna do now, team? The orgy's still on offer, by the way. Especially now I've got the cuffs out."

"Nine minutes four seconds."

Kayla was surprised when Gwen started to speak, "Tosh, the Rift predictor program, have you perfected yet?"

Tosh blinked at the question, "Pretty much."

"The what?" Kayla asked. She made to cross her arms, only for the cuffs to stop her, forcing her to grab her arms with her free hand and squeeze it.

"Anything in the next few minutes?" Gwen prompted.

" _What_ are you talking about?" Kayla snapped before Tosh could answer.

Gwen sighed, "If you're in the Rift when that disc explodes, the city will be safe," she explained, "It's not personal," she added.

"Eight thirty two, thirty one."

While Kayla nodded to what Gwen had said, seeing the logic in, John spluttered at it, "You're bluffing."

"They're not," Kayla snapped, "And while I don't like dying, maybe if I'm in the Rift it will help the fallout."

"The car park where he arrived. The crack in the Rift is still active up there," Tosh announced, her eyes scanning a series of complex data.

"Right, that's where we're going," Gwen decided.

Ignoring the sound of Jack starting to protest, Kayla wordlessly dragged John out of the Hub along with Ianto, Gwen, and Tosh. More than a bit nervously, she glanced back at Jack long enough to see him dragging Owen to the autopsy area, ignoring the man's wince as they went.

And then they were running to the SUV and clumsily getting into the back seat. Kayla clenched the armrest, her nails digging into the fabric as Gwen sped through the city as the first light of sun started to appear.

"Five minutes twenty two seconds," Ianto warned.

"I can't find the frequency the device works on. There's no chance of jamming it," Tosh said apologetically from the back row.

Kayla nodded her head jerkily and looked around the car, taking in the absence of Jack once again. It made her hearts pang and her fingers clench. She was going to die without Jack or the Doctor. After everything they had been through together and here she was, all alone.

"What happened to Jack? He should be here," Gwen said suddenly.

John shook his head, "What I've been saying all along. Unreliable."

"Yes John, we know," Kayla snapped, "Does it matter? He's Jack."

Eyeing her and muttering something about being touchy, John turned his head to look out the window of the car, "I think I'm starting to see what he likes about this place. She's beautiful, he's stunning. Oh, that's gorgeous."

"That's a poodle," Ianto stated from the passenger seat of the car.

"That's  _nice."_

"John, I'm going to die and likely kill my husband as well because of that, so do you mind  _shutting the fuck up?"_

Whether it was the brittle quality of her voice or the fact that they were nearly there, Kayla did not know, but John thankfully quieted for the rest of the ride, which was only Gwen going through the parking complex to the top and slamming on the breaks. As soon as the car was at a spot, Kayla dragged John out of the SUV with the others falling closely behind.

"Fifty-one seconds," Ianto warned as the Rift appeared.

"You're not really gonna sacrifice yourself, are you?"

"That's what  _he_ would want me to do," Kayla snapped, steadily walking towards the Rift like it wasn't killing her to do so.

"Forty-five seconds."

"They forgot about you!" John cried out, a desperate note in his voice, "Some team. There's not even a last minute rescue. What's the point of being on a team if you don't get a last minute rescue?"

"Forty seconds."

Very close to the Rift, Kayla paused and turned around, "Tell Jack," she started, her voice nearly failing her, "Tell Jack I –"

She cut herself off as a red sports car screeched to a halt by the SUV and Jack and Owen jumped out of it and sprinted towards them.

"Thirty seconds."

"Now what's he doing?" John just had time to grumble before he was unceremoniously tackled by Jack, sending both him and Kayla to the ground, "Get off of me!" He yelled as Owen came at him with an injection and shot it into him.

"Owen, it's not working," Jack snapped, his eyes on the device on John's chest.

"Fifteen seconds."

Still on the ground, Kayla stared up at Jack, "What did you do?"

"Tried to confuse the disc," he answered distractedly, "Why hasn't it worked?"

"I don't know," Owen snapped.

"Twelve seconds"

Shaking her head, Kayla looked back at the Rift, "I've got to go, Jack."

His face dark and set, Jack helped the two to their feet, only for the disc to fall to the ground with a clatter. The group stared at it for several seconds, long enough for Ianto begin counting down. Coming to his scenes first, Jack picked up the disc and threw it into the Rift, "Go! Run!"

Grabbing Kayla's hand, he pulled her with him at a heady sprint, practically dragging her and John behind the cars before the energy from the explosion hit. For one blinding moment, all anyone could see was white light and then debris rained down on them.

When everything had stilled, the group slowly got to their feet, taking in the sudden nighttime around them.

"What the hell?" John spluttered, the first to break the silence.

"Time's reversed," Kayla said with a slightly hysterical giggle, "Right to the moment you came through, John. It's the beginning of the night again."

"Like you were never here," Gwen said with an accusatory glare at John.

Jack crossed his arms, "Now we've got to avoid ourselves. Great," he huffed.

John, however, smirked, "It's a temporal displacement. Makes your tongue tingle, doesn't it? It's lovely."

Not caring about what was in the syringe Owen had used, it was obviously Torchwood's DNA, Kayla turned to John with a glare and shook their connected wrists, "Fix this," she ordered.

Holding his free hand up at the tone, John tilted his head back and, with a retch, pulled the key back from his throat, "Old Artesian trick. Keep it in the lining of the throat. Has a lot of uses."

"I don't care. Uncuff. Now."

John rolled his eyes, "You were my passport to survival. No hard feelings. Well, not in that sense," with a lewd smirk, he unlocked the cuff and stepped away.

Kayla took a moment to massage her wrist, twisting it around in her other hand. Once that was out of the way, she punched John in the gut very hard, sending him to the ground. Her lip curling in disgust, she kicked him in the side for good measure, taking great pleasure in the snap from one of his ribs.

The team watched, wincing slightly as John slowly, slowly got to his feet, his hand going to the broken rib with a wince. He didn't even protest as Jack took his Vortex Manipulator back from him, "Definitely bigger," Jack taunted as he slipped it back on.

Kayla raised an eyebrow when John opened his mouth to speak, making him snap it shut and instead send her a glare, "Use the Rift energy and leave," she ordered.

Wincing, John nodded and held up his wrist and pressed in a few buttons. As the Rift appeared around him, he sent Jack a mournful look, "Oh. By the way, I meant to tell you. I found Gray."

While Jack recoiled from that statement, Kayla waved at John, a smirk growing on her lips. She took great pleasure in the way his eyes widened as he took in  _her_ Vortex Manipulator on her wrist, the way she was standing close to Jack…

" _Kayla?!"_

And then he was gone, and the night was dark and peaceful once more.

"Who's Gray?" Gwen asked, her voice soft as she eyed her still shocked boss.

Her words bringing him back, Jack gave her a forced smile, "It's nothing. Let's get back to work."

It showed quite a bit about Torchwood's trust in Jack that no one questioned the blatant lie.

* * *

**First of all, I am so sorry that I didn't update yesterday. I had a thing for school and was gone most of the day because of that.**

**And we're finished with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang! I thought the first part was much stronger in both this episode and this fanfiction. That seems to be a trend with Torchwood in general, the first part of the episode is great, but them fixing everything after the first part isn't that great. Unfortunate, but pretty normal for the type of show Torchwood is.**

**It was a lot of fun writing John, and I wish he could have interacted with Kayla more, but alas, that was not meant to be. Perhaps the next episode he shows up in that will change.**


	3. Interlude 1

Ianto Jones was the first person to greet Kayla as a member of team Torchwood.

It had about three days since John had left, and Kayla had fallen into a somewhat normal daily routine. She would help out during the day and at night she would stay in the room she and Jack had set up, occasionally speaking to the Doctor about his adventures with Martha, who had yet to leave the TARDIS.

She was getting used to thinking about herself as a Time Lady first, and a person to be relied on second. Sometimes she would find herself just watching with her arms crossed as the team flurried around her in a whirlwind of activity.

On the rare occasion that she  _did_ sleep, which seemed to happen once or twice a week, Kayla would only sleep for a few hours at most. By the time Ianto Jones, who was always the first person to arrive to the Hub, came in, she had been up for hours and was already in the main area. She was sure that sent some sort of message to Ianto, either that she spent the night or that she had nothing else, Kayla wasn't sure. She knew Jack had spoken to the Welshman already with assurances that they were not partners the way he had John had been partners and that they were "like family." When Kayla had asked why he had added the "like" in front of "family," Jack had shrugged.

They both knew the answer, of course, even if neither wanted to say it. Torchwood Three wasn't quite ready to know they had a humanoid alien in their midst. For all the barbs the Doctor had thrown at Jack that he had rebutted, it was a fact that Torchwood Three was…trigger happy when it came to aliens. They had seen the worse of them thanks to the way the Rift changed those it spat out. Weevils, drugged blowfish, and other homicidal things were all too common. Even if Kayla pointed out that they had spent ample time alone with her, Torchwood Three would never truly accept her the same way they would if she was a human.

The truth would come out, though, and Kayla knew it was only a matter of time. But Torchwood was Jack's and she wouldn't infringe on his decisions, so she held her tongue and didn't scathingly comment on the human stupidity, or the ape's, or the pink fleshy thing, or whatever noun suited her at the time.

But not revealing her true self made her feel distant from the team. It was like a constant reminder in the back of her head that she was lying again and again and again about herself. She wasn't  _human,_ she was a Time Lady.

So she was surprised when Ianto Jones, in one of their early mornings together that was usually spent in silence, asked her how she liked being on the team, "It must be a change from traveling with the Doctor," he finished with a blithe smile.

Kayla blinked once, and then again for good measure. She had almost forgotten that the charming Welshman had worked for Torchwood One and would know everything about the Doctor and how he was an enemy of the Empire. She had truly forgotten telling the team that she had been traveling with Jack's Doctor before he had joined them.

In other words, his comment was a shock.

Still, Kayla had to reply with something believable. Though judging by the way Ianto's eyebrows raised at her, "It's calmer," she supposed she hadn't done as well as she could have.

"Quite," he agreed dryly, "I met him once. Him and his Bonded. You share the same name, you know."

Kayla  _did_ know, just as she already knew Ianto had met her and her Bonded. She doubted she would ever forget Ianto Jones' cool explanation of the rules as a Torchwood One prisoner.

"Jack assures me you aren't the same person, but one does wonder," Ianto continued, his voice still calm and formal, "If you  _were_ the same person, I would apologize for how we were first introduced, of course."

When Kayla jerked her eyes to his, Ianto merely flashed her a very professional smile, "I doubt the team had formally welcomed you, yet. So, I will take the liberty of saying: Welcome to Torchwood, Kayla Hark."

The last name, one she had not given to Torchwood Three, only registered with Kayla  _after_ Ianto had given her a cup of his very good coffee and had walked into Jack's office, closing the door behind him. As silence settled in the Hub, Kayla sipped her coffee, her thoughts moving rapidly.

* * *

Tosh was the second one.

When Kayla thought about, Tosh coming up to her after Ianto made sense. She had already judged the relationships of Torchwood – Gwen and Owen had had a fling, but Gwen also liked Jack and was currently engaged to someone else. Ianto clearly loved Jack the same way Tosh was mad for Owen, and while Jack was in love with Ianto and was not afraid to show him that, Owen like to pretend that he was indifferent to Tosh even though he probably did like her.

She had also noticed that Ianto seemed to have adopted Tosh as a sister. If Owen said something particularly hurtful, Tosh went to Ianto first. If Gwen or Jack stared at each other for too long or if Jack bluntly flirted with someone else, Ianto could be found talking to Tosh about it later.

Looking back on it, Kayla felt a bit embarrassed that she hadn't put Ianto speaking to her more, both in front of the team and during their shared mornings, together with Ianto and Tosh speaking to each other. It was obvious to her now that the two must have been discussing her for at least  _some_ of their conversation. Yet somehow, Kayla had been surprised – surprised by a human! – by Tosh coming up to her with a smile and a, "How good are you with alien languages?"

As soon as her answer of, "I'm decent," had left her lips, Kayla found herself being dragged over to Tosh's many monitors and plopped in front of them.

While she translated, Tosh had rambled next to her, not leaving even when Owen and Gwen checked out for the day. Even when Ianto headed out, Tosh stayed by Kayla, talking about her theories on whatever thing Kayla was translating, how amazed she was by the different aliens, and how grateful she was for Kayla to do this.

When she was done, Tosh had given her a bright smile and had asked, "Would you mind if you started translated everything? You're a team member after all and you need your own role."

Kayla had agreed and suddenly she had her role in Torchwood Three.

* * *

Gwen was third.

She had gone out to hunt some Weevils and Kayla had tagged along. This wasn't because she didn't think Gwen could handle it; far from it. Gwen had proven herself as a strong, capable person who was able to defend herself.

But Jack clearly disagreed with Kayla's assessment. He had been staring at her with his arms crossed as Gwen was suiting up. Kayla had stared back, her eyebrow raising as she silently asked Jack just  _what_ he wanted her to do. When Jack motioned to Gwen, Kayla sighed heavily.

"Gwen, can I come with?"

Gwen turned at the question, "To the Weevil hunt?"

"Yeah," Kayla nodded, "Extra set of eyes and all that."

Frowning at Kayla's flippant tone, Gwen slowly nodded, "Sure. Yeah, that'd be great."

Despite the smile on Gwen's face, it was clear she was not thrilled about Kayla's inclusion, a feeling Kayla shared as well. Nevertheless, Kayla still got a gun from Jack and went along with Gwen.

As it turned out, that ended up saving Gwen's life.

When they arrived at where the call had been made, all seemed well. The Weevil was still digging through a garbage can and was quickly captured by Gwen. He didn't even seem  _that_ angry about it, though that might have been because of the sedative.

Kayla stayed back during the capture, serving as a watcher for anything bad, like a hapless human who would need to be Retconned.

Which meant that Kayla could see the second, much larger Weevil, charging towards Gwen's turned back.

With only moments before the Weevil would get Gwen, Kayla didn't waste time yelling to warn her. Instead, she pulled the gun out and fired it, sending the Weevil to the ground, dead. Kayla winced at that, already hearing a lecture coming. She glanced over at Gwen only to see the woman's eyes were wide, the way they got when she was horrified…

"You saved my life!"

Or when she was very happy.

Kayla was immediately enveloped into a hug by Gwen, who thanked her for saving her life despite Kayla's protest that it was fine.

"We should make it a rule that Weevil hunting is with two members," Gwen said after she had calmed down and had started to move the Weevil into the SUV with Kayla's help.

"I'm not actually a –"

"Don't be daft. Of course you are!"

Kayla couldn't help the bubble growing in her chest at that.

* * *

Owen was unsurprisingly last.

Perhaps this was because Owen wasn't the most pleasant man, or perhaps this was because Owen and Kayla weren't around each other enough, or perhaps it was because Owen liked to pretend that he was above such juvenile things like the inner workings of Torchwood.

Either someone told him that Kayla should be welcomed or he just decided he should follow the others, because one day when Kayla brought pizza back and informed the Hub it was in the conference room, Owen had squinted at her, "You work here, right?"

"I have for three weeks now," Kayla answered.

Owen nodded slowly, "Keep it up and you might be as helpful as Tea-Boy."

And then Owen was gone.

* * *

The worse thing about the trust she was earning with Torchwood was that it was all a lie. They didn't know that at night she spoke to a Time Lord off in space and time, they didn't know she had two hearts, and they didn't know  _who_ she was.

Not really.

But then again, Jack didn't know either.

It was why he didn't seem to notice her sneaking out at night, going to a bar, and getting as wasted as possible. He didn't notice her sudden take up of cigarettes, or any other substance she had started to use to pass the long, long nights.

No one seemed to notice that, and Kayla didn't know whether she was grateful for that.

So as she sat on the roof of a tall building, her legs swinging off the side, Kayla looked up as her puff of smoke swirled up into the night sky, as if it was touching the stars. For the first time in a very long time, Kayla wrapped her arms around herself and sobbed.

Like all the other things, no one noticed.

* * *

**I really like this chapter; like, I think it's my favorite chapter so far. I don't know if it's because I really related with how Kayla secretly does want to be apart of things but feels like she can't, or whether it's because I like how I have it separated, I don't know.**

**I feel like Kayla is a pretty complicated character and Doctor Who can't do that justice sometimes because it's Doctor Who. Compared to Torchwood, writing an OC with a drinking/drug habit just doesn't really work. I'm glad that I'm able to have that ability to delve deeper into her in this.**

 


	4. Sleeper Pt. 1

The Torchwood team were stir crazy. Ianto had already reordered the archives twice and was now extensively cleaning the Hub, Owen was arguing with Ianto about said cleanup because chemicals he claimed he was using everyday – "There's at least a two-month layer of dust on it, Owen," Ianto said in his far too patient voice – had been moved to an area that was harder to access. Gwen had started to try and do other people's jobs, ending with a yelling match between her and Jack because only  _one_ of them could be in control of Torchwood Three – "You and your bloody dramatic coat!" Had been the ending shout from Gwen as she stormed off. In her defense, Jack had taken to wearing the coat around the Hub more, instead of just outside. Now it was rare to see him walking around and giving orders without it. Even Tosh, who was the only Torchwood member that could be described as sweet had started to snap at Kayla about her language translating skills. She followed each snap up with apologizes to a copious amount, but they were still harsh words coming from Tosh.

Kayla, of course, had not gone stir crazy. This was not because she found Torchwood peaceful compared to the TARDIS, or because she was just happy to be apart of something again. Oh no, Kayla found the Hub to be rather annoying. What was stopping her from going insane was existence of her new nighttime hang out; the roof of an abandoned building. There, she would drink, partake in some of the Earthly drugs – they didn't give her the elusive high she was looking for, but it did allow her to have a few moments of bliss – and talk to the one source that wouldn't force their advice on her despite the fact that she was millions of miles away and not traveling with him on the TARDIS: The stars.

Once Gwen had gone off to Rhys, Owen had gone off to the bars that Kayla made sure to avoid, Tosh had gone home, and Ianto and Jack had gone off together, Kayla would go to the roof, stopping by stores on the way to get her supplies. Sometimes she would spend an hour, or sometimes she would spend all night. She felt peaceful there, and that peace was something she hadn't felt before. Even with the Doctor, she still had a level of anxiety that he would judge her, for surely he would judge her for her behaviors. On that roof, the only thing that judged her was the stars, and so far she had yet to hear them say anything against her. Even if they did, she was a Time Lady, and weren't the Time Lords supposed to be arrogant? In her opinion, it was a win-win situation, and it would remain that way as long as no one figured out.

This was the mood of Torchwood Three's Hub when Tosh reported a police call about a burglary with abnormal qualities to it. Normally, Owen and Gwen would go and judge the crime scene. Tosh might go with them if there was something that warranted it in the description. Rarely did the entire team go about one call. But as soon as Tosh had reported it, Jack had ordered everyone to get ready to go. Never mind the hour, they needed something to do. No one could refute that, so they prepared their equipment and got into the SUV, leaving Ianto to make coffee for what already promised to be a late night.

In Kayla's opinion, the crime scene was normal. Granted the state of the burglars was eyebrow-raising and horrifying enough for Owen to get angry at the police, especially when he found out the surviving one, still on the roof of the car below the window he had been thrown out of, had yet to be stabilized. And granted the police officer had made it a point to say that it was a bit odd, but like Jack had said, when you're terrified for your life, it's surprising what you can do.

What did make everyone, even Kayla, suspicious, was the stab wounds. The only weapon at the scene was a baseball bat, which did not match the cause of death for one of the burglars as a long, narrow blade – the same stab wounds were on the one thrown out of the window as well.

"It doesn't make any sense," Kayla grumbled in the SUV, which was missing Owen and Gwen, who were at the hospital with the remaining burglar, "Unless they had a weapon made of ice, there's no way a blade can just disappear."

"Maybe they did," Tosh suggested, though she had no confidence in her voice, "Maybe they were paranoid and wanted a knife on them."

"Why not have a regular knife under their bed? If you're that paranoid you want something that can be found so your killer can be found."

"Could be something with the cricket bat," Jack suggested as he drove, "Did we get it?"

"It's in the back," Tosh answered promptly, "I'll run some scans on it as soon as we're back."

* * *

Once they were back at the Hub, Tosh kept her word and started to scan the bat for hidden weapons. She promised to update Jack with whatever she did or didn't find, which was enough for Jack to go back to his office. Ianto, the only member of Torchwood who hadn't left, blatantly watched Jack go before he brought the first round of coffee around to Tosh and Kayla.

Jack had checked in on Owen and Gwen before they had left the crime scene and had ordered Owen to stay at the hospital while Gwen could head home. All he had to do was watch the surviving burglar and try and question him if he woke up; it really wasn't a hard job.

Yet at two in the morning, when Tosh and Ianto had long since gone home and Kayla and Jack were the only people in the Hub, it was not Owen who called frantically from the hospital, reporting that the burglar had died and his last words were a plea to stay away from Beth. No, no, Owen had gone home after telling  _Gwen_ she was to stay at the hospital all night.

* * *

Even with the death and the transporting of Beth, the woman who lived in the flat with her husband and who was their prime suspect, done by Jack and Ianto at six in the morning, Jack still had time to call Owen to his office and tell him off for a good few minutes. When Owen emerged, grumpier and more sullen than usual, he went immediately to the autopsy area and stayed there until everything was ready for Jack and Kayla to interrogate Beth.

Jack was the obvious choice. He was the boss and he knew how to push people to tell him what he needed. Kayla, however, was  _not_  an obvious choice. Sure, the team had welcomed her into Torchwood Three, but she really wasn't a member and they really didn't know anything about her. It was alarming when Gwen reported to the rest of the curious members that Jack had told her that Kayla had been the top interrogator at the Time Agency and would be able to get  _anything_ out of Beth in a matter of minutes.

When the two went into the room and stood in front of the bagged, handcuffed figure of Beth for several minutes, the entire team was watching anxiously through the two-way mirror. They all breathed a sigh of relief when Kayla stepped back and crossed her arms, just watching as Jack walked over to Beth and removed the bag from her head.

The drug Ianto had injected her with was one from the future. It kept the user unconscious in the dark. As soon as they had light flashed on them, they would wake up and not have any of the side effects like being dizzied or altogether stoned. The downside was the confusion the user would face since, as far as Beth was aware, she had just woken up in an interrogation room with handcuffs, which was a stark difference the hospital room she had been in when she had fallen asleep.

Despite her clear confusion, Jack still gave her a hard look and snapped, "Tell me everything."

"Where am I? Where's my husband?"

"Safe at the hospital," Kayla answered, her voice far cooler and smoother than the Torchwood team usually heard.

Beth whipped her head around Jack to stare at Kayla, "What do you mean safe?" When no answer came, she looked back at Jack, "What have you done with him?"

"Nothing," Kayla assured, though her voice was anything but kind. It almost sounded bored as she added, "He's not the one that we need to talk to."

Despite the lack of threat from her, her voice held enough edge in it that it was almost as if there  _had_ been a threat, or at least like she was just itching to add a "but that can change" or some other promise to make Beth behave.

It was enough to make the woman silent as Jack spoke, "Tell me what happened in the flat, Beth. It had to be you or Mike, so how did you do it?"

But even with Kayla's voice and Jack, Beth was an angry woman who would defend herself if she needed to, "You can't treat people like this. I've been burgled, attacked. I want a lawyer, I want a phone call. If you're charging me with something-"

Even though her voice shook, she still had a defiant glint her eye as Jack cut her off, "We're not charging you with anything. We don't have to. And there'll be no lawyer, no phone calls. Just us and this room for as long as it takes. Now, tell me what happened!"

"I told the police. Please, I don't know what happened."

Though Jack and Kayla would never go into depth about their history together for the Torchwood team, it was clear they had worked together during something like this before. How else would Kayla already be placing the crime scene photos in front of Beth without Jack signaling her to do it? It was obvious they knew how to bounce off each other, giving the nicer role to Kayla and the harder role from Jack.

"Look at them. The second one just died in hospital. 'Keep her away from me. The woman in the flat.' Those were his dying words. Now why would he say something like that?"

Beth shook her head rapidly, tears falling down her face, "I don't know, I swear. I never touched him."

"Is it Mike? Are you covering for him?" Jack continued to press.

"No!"

As the angry yell echoed around the room, the light bulb blew, sending them into a shadowy darkness. Kayla and Jack slowly looked upwards, taking in what they both knew to be a fresh bulb. It was only because of Kayla's enhanced Time Lady hearing that she was able to hear Ianto telling the team that that bulb was brand knew, he had replaced them yesterday.

Perhaps it was nothing.

Besides, the bulb gave Kayla the perfect opportunity to place a hand on Jack's shoulder, though it literally pained her to do so, and say in a soft voice, "Jack."

Nodding, Jack left, joining the team by the mirror to watch as Kayla move a chair so it was next to Beth and sat down in it.

"Beth, I know what it's like to kill in self-defense. It makes you feel horrible and you constantly question whether or not you had the right. Those two burglars were breaking into your home and attacking you and your husband. People will understand if you  _or_ Mike fought back, but we need the full story to help."

Beth, however, started to sob. And Kayla, for her all her warmth she was trying to show Beth, did nothing except stay in her seat, her arms crossing so that her hands could run up and down her shirt sleeves, the texture calming her.

"I promise. I promise I have no idea what happened to them. All I know is that it wasn't me," Beth managed to say between her sobs.

Tilting her head to the side so that her ear was closer to the window – "It's like she pretending to hear us," Owen had grumbled, "Might make her feel like she's being watched. Mindfucking at its finest." – Kayla got up from her chair moments after Jack had said that they would try again after Owen had run some tests and left the room.

* * *

Kayla escorted Beth to the tests, reassuring her that it was standard, and that Owen was a very good doctor. Both statements were things she did not know at all, but it was worth it for Beth to be relaxed as they walked into the rest of the Hub. Beth had marveled at the structure of the Hub, remarking that she felt very small, Kayla didn't comment. Not because it wasn't worthy to comment on, but because Kayla had no reassurances to give to Beth. How could she, a Time Lady help Beth feel better about her humaniness?

The question was so silly that Kayla didn't bother trying to answer it. She just wordlessly steered Beth to the autopsy room and quickly introduced her to Owen.

From there, Kayla was okay to watch Owen set up the tests while Beth sat on the autopsy table. Owen, for all his personality faults, did have a relatively good bedside manner. He spoke to Beth throughout the entire process, not only making sure she knew everything she wanted to about the tests, but also making sure she knew about every single safety implement in place if things went wrong. When Beth had shied away from Owen at this, he had even assured her that issues were very rare.

It was weird seeing Owen so  _nice_ to someone. As far as Kayla had seen, Owen and nice just didn't mix. Her views were backed up by both Tosh and Gwen joining her and almost immediately remarking on the odd occurrence.

"This must've been him before Torchwood," Tosh murmured, sounding as if she was identifying a rare specimen.

"Or him with a patient who's alive," Gwen suggested, making herself and her co-worker snort.

The joking stopped as Jack and Ianto joined the three women to watch Owen start the blood tests. Or at least they  _would_ have watched if it weren't for a snapping sound and Owen grunting in confusion, "What?" Jack called down, the group unable to see thanks to Owen's angle.

"Needle's snapped," Owen answered.

"Haven't you got a nurse to do this?" Beth asked shakily, looking up at the team worriedly.

"Owen knows what he's doing," Kayla assured, trying to give Beth a smile to go along with it.

That seemed to work…and then Owen tried again and another needle broke.

"Okay, look, I'm not gonna do this if you can't even-" Beth started to explain as she started to get up from the slab. She cut herself off as Owen came at her with a very sharp  _scalpel,_ "What are you doing?"

"Bear with me," Owen assured, even as tried to cut Beth's arm with the scalpel. Of course, Beth started to protest, but those died as even that blade broke off, rendering it useless. Owen stared at it for a long moment, and then he crossed his arms, "When was the last time you were in hospital, Beth?"

"I don't remember. I don't think I ever have. Why, what's wrong with me?" Beth asked, her voice speeding up as she became more and more concerned with the looks everyone was exchanging and giving her.

"Well, any operations? Checkups?" Owen continued.

"No, nothing."

"When was the last time you felt ill? Have you had a cold?"

"I don't think I ever have. I take a lot of vitamin C."

Owen hummed, "Hell of a lot I reckon," he muttered with a sharp look to Jack.

Taking the hint, Jack crossed his arms as he stared down at Beth, "Okay, Beth. You make light bulbs blow, we can't break your skin. What planet are you from?"

"Earth," Beth said firmly.

Jack huffed, "Stop wasting our time. We know you're an alien."

"There's no such thing as aliens."

What bothered Kayla about that statement was how truthful it was. Beth  _truly_ believed there was no such thing, and that made Kayla cross her arms as well. How had Beth not noticed the multiple alien invasions?

She didn't have time to question Beth on that, because quite suddenly she was jogging after Jack and Beth as he dragged to the cell and forcibly introduced her to the celled Weevil lovingly named Janet.

"Beth, Janet. Janet, Beth," Jack ground out, his voice still managing to sound pleasant.

Beth whimpered in Jack's grip, "What is it?"

"It's an alien. But you know that cos you are, too."

"No, it's not.  _I'm_ not. I work in an office."

"Why do you give off electromagnetic waves? Why?" Jack pressed.

"I don't know. Stop it. Why are you doing this? I want Mike. I want to go home," Beth practically begged, her voice cracking as she spoke.

As if the Weevil could sense her emotions, it started to back away in a sort-of bow, making a low keening noise as it moved. It was unnerving to see any Weevil, who were very aggressive, fierce creatures, acting in blatant submission to anything.

"Why is it doing that?" Beth asked.

When Kayla looked over at Jack, it was clear that he was puzzled by the behavior, "I don't know," he admitted, "It's never done that before."

Beth stared at the Weevil for a long time, "This is real, isn't it?" She asked, though she didn't turn to look at Jack or Kayla.

"It is," Kayla answered.

As if she couldn't look any longer, Beth turned jerkily so she was staring at Jack, "I don't know about my skin, or any of that other stuff. I just. How can I prove it to you? How can I prove to you that I'm not an alien?" She demanded, and though her voice shook with each word, and her lip quivered with the threat of tears, she still managed to tilt her head up just a bit.

* * *

Kayla was the one to bring Beth from the holding cells filled with Weevils to the interrogation room. When she reentered the Hub, she immediately saw the large metal helmet Jack was placing onto a table. He had a slightly manic look on his face, one she recognized well. He  _always_ got that face when he wanted to prove something, and right now, he wanted to prove that Beth was an alien.

Kayla wanted to prove that as well, but she was very firm in her belief that an invasive, high-power mind probe, that was what the large metal helmet's purpose, was not necessary, especially with herself around. She had used the mental abilities of a Time Lady before and had done so with relative success. Sure, the other person  _had_ gone into her mind, but Kayla was fairly positive she would be able to stop that from happening this time.

All she had to do was convince Jack it was a good idea.

She was surprised when it turned out to be set up so easily. First, Tosh started chastising Jack about bringing the probe back since  _he_ had ordered previously that they were never allowed to use it. Then, Ianto pointed out that the last person they had used the probe on had exploded. As Gwen started to protest, spluttering at the beginning because of how horrified she was, Kayla saw her chance to say, "Jack, why don't I just read her mind?"

It appeared she had thought it easy too soon. At this statement, the entire Torchwood team turned to stare at her, and even Jack was thrown off enough to allow a, "What?" to slip out.

"You can read minds?" Owen asked, the first of the team to recover from this shock. Like his usual behavior, the question was spoken harshly.

"Yeah," Kayla answered, her arms crossing from the discomfort of having the usually friendly team acting so hostile, "Only with specific contact, though."

"How is that possible?" Tosh asked, sounding less hostile and more blatantly curious.

"It's from experiments at the Time Agency. They were trying to get long-range telepathy for spying, but they couldn't get past a contact-only block in our evolution. The project was ended when they got over the block and the person immediately died," Kayla explained.

The nice thing about her answer was that it was only somewhat false. The Time Agency  _was_ trying to get long-range telepathy for spying, they  _had_ found a contact-only block, and they  _had_ gotten over the block on one person who died immediately after. The only false part was Kayla's involvement. She had the privilege of knowing thanks to her rank, but she had never been experimented on. That had been reserved for prisoners and Time Agents that just weren't worth the effort – money – for the Time Agency.

She supposed it was rather horrifying she had okayed such experiments, but Kayla had spent much of her past okaying and doing horrifying things. All she could do now was be a better person.

Her musing over, Kayla paid her full attention to Torchwood once more, and was pleasantly surprised by them accepting her explanation. Owen still appeared hostile about it – later that week he took her aside and practically forced her to show him how it worked and what it felt like. Kayla had humored him and given him a small look by only skimming his surface thoughts. When she was done, she had asked why he wanted her to look and he had snapped that he wanted to make sure he knew the sensation, so she couldn't sneak in. – The rest of Torchwood, however, seemed more curious than angry. Tosh looked like she wanted to start bombarding her with questions  _now,_ but Jack's response made her pause.

"If you think you can," he said slowly, warning her with both his words and his eyes, "Then go ahead. I hate that thing."

* * *

"You'll be fine as long as you don't try to fight it," Kayla assured Beth, her arms crossed as she sat in front of the seated woman in the middle of the Hub. Ianto had immediately cleared away the probe and Kayla had gotten Beth and led her back to the center of the Hub to sit down in one of two chairs facing each other. Once Beth had sat, Kayla sat down in the other chair, her posture a stark difference from Beth's stiff form. To Beth, Kayla seemed to be the only relaxed person in the Hub, and that made her gnaw her lip.

"What happens if I fight it?"

"A concussion," Kayla answered, her tone blithe as she shrugged half-heartedly.

Beth swallowed hard and looked around at the rest of Torchwood. They were all watching the two carefully, and the nerves she thought she was picking up from them really did not help her  _own_ nerves, "Are you sure this is safe?"

"Yep."

Beth jerked her head down in a scared form of a nod, "Just try not to, you know, kill me or anything, okay?"

Actually nodding, Kayla leaned forwards and placed both hands on the sides of Beth's head, "It'll help if you close your eyes," she suggested in an almost whisper.

It was clear to Torchwood when Kayla had actually entered Beth's mind. The two both tensed and Beth leaned forwards, her eyes and body relaxing. Tosh instantly started to write down the signs, looking at Ianto's watch and marking the time that it had started.

It was also clearly better than the mind probe Jack had brought out. Both appeared peaceful, if a bit tense. One could even say they looked like they were meditating. It was all very, very fascinating for the group of humans from the 21st century to watch. Even Jack was fascinated by it, for as far as he knew, the Time Agency's attempts had never gotten close to true telepathy the way he knew the Doctor, and now Kayla, could.

Because of how watchful the group was, they noticed when something changed, when Beth started to tense more and more and…

"Step back!"

The warning, in the form of a guttural yell from a suddenly standing and moving back Kayla, was all the team got before Beth leaned back in her chair, cried out in pain, and then passed out. What was even  _more_ startling from this was that Beth almost immediately sat up, her eyes open but unseeing. A horrible hissing sound filled the air and all eyes followed the noise to its source: Beth's right arm's  _skin_ peeled back revealing red lights underneath it.

"Oh, my God," Gwen gasped, her voice ringing through the horrified silence that had followed this revolution.

As if she couldn't help herself, she started to step forward, but Jack grabbed her, stopping her in her tracks, "I wouldn't get that close," he warned. "Kayla, what happened?"

"There was a buried compartment in her mind. I had to push to get it," Kayla answered slowly. She suppressed a yawn, "She couldn't have known about it."

Nodding, Jack crossed his arms and centered himself in front of Beth, "Who are you?"

"Kayehla Janees. Putaak graszh, ish nin fas du hap vac nal."

Briefly, he felt Kayla's hand on his shoulder, a silent way for her to tell him that she could understand what Beth was saying. He acted as if he didn't feel it, instead asking Beth, "Where are you from?"

"Kayehla Janees. Putaak graszh, ish nin fas du hap vac nal," Beth responded in the same listless voice as before.

"How do you like my boots?"

"Kayehla Janees. Putaak graszh, ish nin fas du hap vac nal."

"Jack, what is it? What is she saying?" Gwen asked, her voice higher-pitched than normal thanks to her fear.

"Name, rank, serial number, and that's all she's gonna say," Jack answered. He turned to Kayla, a frown marring his face, "Can you safely-"

"Yes," Kayla answered. Moving forwards cautiously, Kayla took Beth's unchanged hand and closed her eyes, squeezing them tight as she concentrated…

"That wasn't that bad. Did you find anything?"

Beth's face, which had a cautiously optimistic smile on it as she first woke, crumbled when everyone just looked at her mournfully, as if they were already planning her new home in the cells of Torchwood.

* * *

**Sleeper is an interesting episode. The acting is pretty...eh, but the plot is really cool and the idea of an alien species who might invade at any time is a concept I wish Doctor Who would delve back into, but that would require Torchwood and honestly, does anyone want Series 4 Torchwood team to come back?**

**For this chapter, I really liked it. I originally had Kayla as the aggressor, but that really didn't fit with her. She's very passive, so I made her kinda take the role of Gwen as the kinder person to Beth, but Kayla is still pretty harsh to Beth.**


	5. Sleeper Pt. 2

Beth was moved down to the cells by Gwen. Kayla had offered to do it, but Jack had ordered her to get sit down and eat something. It was a testimony to how Kayla felt that she didn't put up too much of a fight. She allowed herself to be led away by Ianto, who sat her down in one of the many chairs around the conference room table and handed her coffee and a sandwich. He then sat with her and waited until the entire team was seated around the table and Jack was able to talk.

"She's a sleeper agent. It all clicked when I saw the implant," Jack informed the team, shaking his head at his forgetfulness.

"A sleeper agent? Who for?" Owen asked, his legs kicking up on the table as he tilted back in his chair, trying to appear completely disinterested in the conversation, though the question ruined that image.

"No one really knows," Kayla was the one who answered, drawing attention to herself, "The Time Agency dealt with them a couple of times. Stopped them from getting a way to time travel. They had us call them Cell 114," she shrugged, "I think they liked how it made us feel with not having a name."

Everyone already looked concerned when Jack started to explain how they worked, "They infiltrate planets, adapting their bodies, gathering intelligence, sometimes for years, watching, until they're ready to take over."

A horrified silence fell over the staff as they all took in just  _what_ they were up against. Everyone had paled considerably by the time Gwen shook her head, her eyes wide, and muttered, "Okay, that's creepy."

"Maybe she's the first?" Tosh tried, her tone and look to Jack made her suggestion come to a concerned question instead.

"If we're lucky," Jack said darkly, "They send an advance guard to gather intel, given false memories so they blend in. She has no idea she's not human. Her real self must have taken over briefly, killed the burglars. Self-preservation."

"Told you she did it," Owen said confidently, making everyone glare at him for this casual, out of place boast.

"Yeah," Jack grumbled, "The point is, by the time they attack they know every single thing about the planet," officially done, he sat down and nodded to Tosh, who got up from her chair and replaced him at the head of the table.

"The implant gathers information. Normal X-rays don't show it. She's projecting a false image. It's got all this data stored inside it. This is a forcefield generator. It creates an impervious layer above the skin, just a nanometer thick," Tosh explained, motioning occasionally to an image of Beth's body with the implant on her arm circled, "That's why you couldn't get the needle inside her," she added to Owen.

Owen's face darkened at the call out, even if it was a positive one since it showed that he  _wasn't_ a lousy doctor for his inability to draw blood. It darkened even more as data was placed in front of them, which Tosh explained as just  _some_ of what she had collected from Beth, "Right, well. God, look. They even know about us," Owen spluttered, his eyes narrowing in on the information Tosh was displaying that the implant had detected.

"They know more about this place than I do. Nobody knows more than I do," Ianto grumbled.

Gwen shook her head, her eyes impossibly wide, "What if there's more of them? What are we gonna do about this?"

"We should tell her," Kayla said firmly, "She deserves to know."

* * *

No one had argued when Kayla and Jack went down to the Hub and explained to Beth what had happened and what species they thought she was. She had demanded proof, which came in the form of footage from the Hub played on the monitor. The footage played from the beginning as a way for Beth to know that it was her. When it got to her passing out and changing to her true form, she stiffened in the cell but made no move to turn it off. Before the footage got to Jack asking his question about his boots, Beth looked away from the monitor.

"Can you turn it off, please?" Kayla wordlessly complied. For a long moment, Beth was silent, "So I killed those men?"

"Yes," Jack answered.

"And I'm a mass murdering alien?"

Jack hesitated briefly before he agreed, "Yes."

Beth shook her head, "My whole life, all my memories, they can't be fake. I know I love Mike, and he loves me," she protested weakly, her voice already shaking with unshed tears.

"I'm sure he does," Kayla agreed, "And I'm sure you do too. Aliens can love, Beth. They can feel emotions like fear, hatred, and  _love._ Your memories might not be entirely real, but that emotion is."

"But what happens when the disguise comes off? I want to have kids one day. Is loving someone enough for that? Can you fix me? Can you make me human?"

Even Jack cringed at the desperate plea from Beth, "No. Eventually you'll activate. Your real memories will come back, and Beth will disappear."

"What do you mean, 'activate?'"

"Cell 114 gather information about the planet they're going to invade. That implant in your arm will send the data you've gotten back to your species' home planet. At some point it will be enough, and they'll invade."

Beth shook her head sharply, as if she could deny Kayla's words by just refusing to accept them, "There must be something you can do. All this technology, everything you do here," she accused, "You can't keep me locked up next to that thing," she added scathingly with a motion to the Weevil in the cell next to hers, "Are you gonna kill me?" She asked softly, her voice lowering in defeat.

"Only if we have to," Kayla promised, "Only if it's kill or be killed."

Knowing that Kayla's assurance was all she was going to get, Beth slumped down into the seat, "Oh, I wish this wasn't happening. I'd never know. I'd just live a normal life," she moaned, a half-hearted plea in her voice.

"Until the day of the attack," Jack countered, his arms crossing defensively.

"I won't do anything. I'm not that person."

"I'm sorry, but you are."

And with those parting words from Jack, he and Kayla left Beth in the cell as she started to sob.

* * *

The team circled around Tosh's computer in the Hub as they started to suggest different ways they could deal with Beth humanly.

"We can't let her go. She's too dangerous," Jack stated before Gwen could start on trying to convince him towards the opposite.

Gwen sulked at that while Tosh suggested, "We could freeze her. Use the alien cryogenics. Wake her up if we figure out how to stop her memories from coming back."

"Freeze her?" Gwen spluttered, "For how long?"

"As long as it takes," Tosh said firmly. When Gwen gave her a horrified look, Tosh flushed, "At least she'd be  _alive."_

"We would need to do something about the implant," Kayla pointed out, a thoughtful frown on her face, "It would continue to gather information even when she's not aware."

Gwen huffed, as if she was angry with herself for going along with the plan. Nevertheless, she looked to Jack as she asked, "Can't we deactivate it?"

Despite the question not asked to her, Tosh still answered it, "I can isolate the transceiver and fry it in an EM pulse. Right now it's not sending or receiving anything. I've checked it five times on every frequency."

"Won't that let them know we're onto them?" Owen pointed out.

"No," Tosh answered firmly, "If we freeze her, she'll never activate and they'll never know."

Kayla was surprised when Owen was the one who asked about the husband. Though he sounded bored when he posed the question, the fact that he even  _asked_ meant he too cared for Beth. Likely not the way Gwen did, but him caring at all was a feat. Jack's answer, however, did not come as a surprise. Everyone knew that Beth would have to disappear completely, and while the team looked upset, the had a resignation to that emotion.

* * *

Beth was quickly brought to the autopsy room by Kayla and Jack. She was carefully helped into the freezer she would spend her foreseeable future in. Kayla hissed to Owen and Tosh before she headed up to the level so she could watch from above that they had to move as fast as they could because Beth's real memories of the burglary had started to come back.

"Promise me something," Beth said from the freezer before Kayla left, "If you can't figure out how to keep me human, then don't wake me up. Just turn the machine off."

"You have my word," Kayla responded firmly.

Pleased, or at least content with the promise, Beth leaned back in the freezer. Kayla could hear her talking, her voice trembling as she tried not to break out in sobs once more, as she walked up the stairs and joined Jack at the railing that surrounded the autopsy room.

Tosh warned Beth before the procedure started, and though Kayla had already told her that everything would be fine and it would be painless, Beth still noticeably relaxed when Gwen promised as well that it wouldn't harm or hurt her. And just as Gwen and Kayla had promised, Beth did not feel a thing when Tosh zapper her arm. While she winced momentarily when Owen injected her in the leg, she soon passed out, her face smoothing in her sleep.

* * *

An hour later, Owen reported to Jack that he had sent Beth down to the vaults. A couple of minutes later, Gwen and Ianto returned with the report from the Welshwoman that she and Ianto had placed Beth in storage. The Hub's mood was subdued as Tosh and Owen cleaned up the autopsy room and Gwen neatly folded the clothes and objects Beth had come in with. They would be sent down to the archives for Ianto to file away in the very unlikely case that Beth might return. In his office, Jack was working on the paperwork necessary to make Beth no longer exist. He was already coordinating with the government to make sure her husband Mike would get a large sum as an apology. In a rare form of working together, UNIT had agreed to keep an eye on the husband as well, which Jack had grudgingly thanked them for.

Kayla was also working on something related to Beth. Jack had sent her the footage from when Beth had given her name, rank, and serial number with an order to translate it. While she bristled at the command, Kayla still started on it, her brow furrowing as she started to translate.

She had hardly started, however, when the lights turned off, shrouding the Hub in darkness, save for an alarming red light. Pulling out one of her earphones, Kayla winced at the shrill siren that started to play. It echoed off of the walls, making it nearly unbearable for anyone to stand, much less someone with sensitive hearing like herself.

"Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on?" Jack yelled as he had exited his office.

"Oh, shit," Gwen cried out in answer. When Kayla looked over at her, concerned, she saw that the Welshwoman was staring at her computer screen in horror.

"What happened?" Jack shouted.

"Beth's gone," Gwen answered.

Jack frowned, his arms crossing in clear displeasure, "I thought she was frozen," he said accusingly.

"She was," Owen replied defensively, "Her vitals were at zero."

Jerking his head in a nod, Jack looked over to Tosh, "Checking systems, command history," she announced, her eyes scanning the computer screen in front of her.

"What did she do? Is it a virus, a lockdown?" Jack demanded, his voice softening as much as it could while still being heard over the alarm as he bounded down the stairs and joined the rest of the team in the center of the Hub.

"No," Tosh said slowly with a shake of her head, "she just turned off the lights."

"What is it with her and light bulbs?" Jack grumbled, looking upwards at one of the shut off lights in question.

The alarm thankfully stopped as Tosh reported, "She went through the tunnels."

"Time to change the locks again," Ianto stated, reemerging from wherever the controls for the emergency system where.

Kayla frowned, her arms crossing as she eyed the footage of Beth leaving Torchwood, "Why didn't she kill us?" She wondered. Her musing made everyone look at her, confused about why she was  _questioning_ this luck, "She could have killed us easily. She had everything on us, didn't she?"

"But she didn't," Gwen agreed, her arms crossing as well.

While Owen repeated his claim that Beth had been frozen, Jack started to question Tosh about how  _sure_ she was that the transceiver was switched off. She admitted that she was sure until he had asked about it, which led Owen to say something  _actually_ useful, "Hang on, hang on. Everything about her was a lie. All of her vital signs were a false image. She can fool the equipment. She can tell it what we're expecting to see, so, you know, she gets scared and it projects an increased heart rate. We try and freeze it and it does the opposite."

"Simulating that much information would need a huge amount of energy. No wonder she had a big electromagnetic field," Tosh said rapidly, her head bobbing up and down in agreement.

"That's why the lights blew every time she got upset," Owen said, finishing his theory with a confident grin.

"But she can't be activated. Otherwise we'd be dead," Kayla pointed out with a thoughtful frown.

"She has some other agenda," Jack said firmly, a frown of his own at the implication of that.

It took all of two seconds for the Torchwood team to name and decide that Mike, Beth's husband, was the one she had left to see. Gwen had argued that she probably planned on coming back once she had said goodbye, but Jack quickly shot down any attempt on her swaying him to the side of not going to the hospital with guns blazing. When Gwen had turned to Kayla, the other woman had sighed before the Welshwoman got a chance to start, "She could have activated. We need to have the guns."

Huffing, Gwen had relented, though she made her opinion clear as Kayla brought the two pistols with her and Jack when they left.

* * *

Getting Beth hadn't been easy. She had visited Mike, like the team had guessed, but she had also accidentally stabbed him. She had immediately started screaming for help, drawing Jack and Kayla to the room. In the end, Jack had had to carry Beth out of the hospital, the woman sobbing in distraught as Kayla got the nurses to go save Mike. She got their names as well, making a note to tell Ianto in case any of them needed Retcon.

With that out of the way, Kayla clicked on her comms. as soon as she had caught up to Jack and Beth, "Tosh? We got her. We're on our way."

Clicking off the comms. Kayla just had time to open her mouth to try and comfort Beth when an explosion from outside rocked the hospital, sending the three of them to the ground and breaking all the windows.

The world shook for several moments, rattling Kayla's head until it stopped. For a moment, there was an eerie silence, and then the patients all started screaming and the nurses started to run around, yelling. The tannoy over head started to call out different doctors' names, ordering them to get to A&E because of the deadly consequences from the explosion.

"You okay?" Jack asked, his face hovering just above Kayla's.

"Fine," Kayla replied as she got to her feet.

Nodding, Jack and Kayla tapped their comms. on, "What the hell was that?" Jack asked.

"A petrol tanker. Looks like someone wanted to take out the M4 link road for some. No, it's not the road. There's an underground fuel pipeline. It's a special supply for the military. They use it in emergencies," Tosh reported, the faint sound of her typing coming through to Jack and Kayla.

"Not any more," Owen grumbled, "Hold on. I've got a report coming through. Patrick Grainger's been murdered."

"Who?" Tosh asked, merely voicing the question everyone else was thinking.

Kayla could hear Owen's annoyance at having to explain this information in his response, "Leader of the Council, stabbed several times in the chest, and once in the forehead. Sound familiar?"

The fact that there was  _another_ Cell 114 made Kayla and Jack start to jog through the busy hallways, trying to get out and back to the Hub with the unconscious Beth as soon as they could.

"Why is he important?" Kayla asked through the comms. When he huffed instead of answering, Kayla pointedly ignored the annoyance to instead focus on the man who  _did_ respond.

"He's also the city coordinator. Takes charge of the city during major emergencies. Has all the security protocols," Ianto explained, his calm voice a harsh juxtaposition to the frantic ones around Kayla.

Owen immediately called Ianto out on this information, and Kayla was more than happy to let their short bickering wash over her as she and Jack pushed out of the hospital. Once they were done Jack, who hadn't cracked a smile or laughed at their back and forth, spoke into the comms., "They're putting all the pieces in place. Kayla, take her," that was all the warning she got before the stirring Beth was thrusted into her grip, "Tosh, Owen, it's starting, it's happening right now."

Yet another explosion rocked the world outside the hospital. At least this time it wasn't as strong, and Kayla was able to keep herself  _and_ Beth standing by grabbing onto the side of the hospital. Only later would she noticed her hands sting and from the bad cuts she had received from the building. For now, though, Kayla was running on adrenaline as she waited for the world to stop shaking. Once it had, Jack was immediately pressing his comms., "Tosh? It's not just her. She's part of a cell and they've activated. It's happening," his reported done, he turned to the now awake Beth with a hard expression, "Tell me how to stop it."

"It can't be," Beth said with a shake of her head, her eyes wide and fearful.

Jack grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him instead of the destruction around them, "Think!" He snapped.

But all that did was make Beth shut down. Turning her as quickly as she could, Kayla got her attention, "Beth, you need to help us. How can we stop this?"

"I don't know. I'm cut off from the cell. I don't know what the mission is. I'm sorry."

"What about the implant? How did you use it to get out of Torchwood?"

"The technology is part of me. I can switch it on. I can use the tools," Beth said slowly, her right forearm flexing as she looked down at it.

Kayla nodded encouragingly, "Can you trace the others with it?"

"No," Beth shook her head rapidly, "What if it goes wrong?"

Kayla crossed her arms, "How could it get worse than this?"

Looking very indecisive and not at all confident, Beth activated the tech in her arm and closed her eyes. She stiffened for a moment, and then she popped her eyes open and gave a Jack a fiercely determined look, "There's only one left. I can track him."

"Let's go. Come on," Jack ordered.

Not needing to be told twice, the two women headed after him. Beth climbed into the back of the SUV while Kayla climbed into the passenger seat as Jack was the designated driver. This was because Kayla hated driving. She had done it before, and could do it if needed, but she hated the stress of the other cars around her doing whatever they wanted to do. And the fucking turnabouts! Besides, Jack had the driving like a manic person skill that Kayla was always too scared to access. According to Gwen's rant about Owen and the Blowfish chase, it seemed that Owen had that skill too.

What shook Kayla out of her musings about Jack and Owen and their terrifying driving was Jack skidding to a stop not on the street, but on the  _pavement._ People shrieked around them, but Jack didn't care as he hastily said, "Hang on, I've got an idea."

Before Kayla could protest, he was out of the car and running into the electronics store they were outside of. There was little Kayla could do but lock the car and wait, watching the store's door anxiously. She breathed a sigh of relief as Jack bolted out, a radio and an aerial in hand. Instead of getting inside the car, he started to tape the aerial to the vehicle. When he got back in with the radio in hand, it was unceremoniously handed to Kayla.

"CB radio. They knocked out the phones, but they can't knock out the radio waves. Not yet, anyway," he added darkly.

That was true. Jack had tried his phone unsuccessfully as they drove, and both of their comms. were down. But the CB radio, after a brief check, proved to be working. With how small it was, it easy for Kayla to place it on the dashboard and let it balance there, only occasionally holding it when Jack made a hard turn. She expected Jack to give her a radio station, but instead he gave her his Vortex Manipulator and a frequency. Within a few seconds, they were connected to the Hub.

"Tosh, Owen, can you hear me?" Jack called into the speaker of the CB radio as he started to drive off the pavement and into the road once more.

" _Jack?"_ Tosh's voice asked,  _"Thank God. What happened?"_

"There's a cell. It's active. Four including Beth. Two are dead. We're tracking the last guy now. If we can get to him before he does anything, we can stop this," Jack summarized quickly; the urgency that was clear in his voice matched the urgency at which he drove through the streets of Cardiff.

" _What can I do?"_ Tosh demanded.

"He's heading for an abandoned farm outside the city. I need to know what's there."

All went silent on the CB as Tosh got to work on the order. They remained silent in the SUV as well, not wanting to miss Tosh's report, but the silence was broken when Beth leaned forward so her head was in the front, "He's nearly there. We need to hurry."

"Yeah. Hurrying, thank you," Jack grumbled even as the car accelerated just a bit more.

Kayla turned her seat so she could look at Beth, "Do you know how this plan starts?"

"How do you get in the heavy weapons?" Jack added.

"I don't know. I think we just have this arm stuff," Beth answered with a needless motion to her right forearm.

Kayla frowned, her thoughts going back to the explosions that had rocked everywhere, including the Hub. If there was no heavy weapons…"That was all with the implant?"

Beth shrugged defensively, "I don't know. I didn't even know how to use this thing until today."

Their conversation done, the silence settled back in the car until the CB radio clicked on and Ianto's voice came through with a quick explanation that he had found some paper records,  _"This is as far back as they go. There used to be a coal mine in the cliff. The army sealed it off in the forties. Doesn't say why."_

" _Let me see if I can get into the military files,"_ there was a slight pause, as Tosh typed rapidly on the other ends,  _"Come on, guys, that wasn't even difficult. You disappoint me,"_ she said tauntingly. Clearly the military needed someone like Tosh to protect their files.

" _It's almost obscene what you do to security systems,"_ Ianto pointed out, though he didn't sound too bothered by it.

They didn't have time to laugh at this statement, because Tosh's choked out,  _"Oh, God,"_ got their attention much more.

"What is it?" Jack demanded.

" _The mineshaft. The military are using it for storage. Nuclear warheads. Ten of them. Nobody's supposed to know, not even us."_

Kayla realized after a beat of silence in the car that her mouth was hanging open a bit, she snapped it shut, gritting her teeth as she did so, "I swear, you humans are suicidally stupid," she snapped, "No other species uses nuclear weapons or even  _has_ nuclear weapons. They could easily make them, but why make something that could kill you in horrifying ways?"

"We left the key under the doormat. All you need is to walk in and take over," Jack snapped in agreement.

" _Tell me you can stop this,"_ Tosh urged, the CB radio clicking on for the request.

"Going as fast as we can. If we don't, we won't feel a thing. We're all at the center of the blast radius."

" _That's comforting."_

Kayla recognized Jack's laugh as his nervous one, "Come on, have a little faith," he challenged, "With a dashing hero like me on the case, how can we fail?"

And with that, they clicked the CB radio off and Jack focused on speeding ahead. In the back, Beth urgently told them that the last Cell 114 was turning off at the exit they were headed to. It was only a few miles until he would reach the nuclear warheads. But now they were exiting too, and they were racing down the road that would lead them to the farm. When they got there, the security grate was dented and on the ground and the soldiers that had been around to protect it had familiar deadly stab wounds. Those didn't deter them as they barreled through the gate. Kayla was the one that saw Cell 114 first, and she shouted out when she did. He was cracking the security code to unlock the storage areas to set off the warheads and so far, he seemed to not have noticed them, or at least had brushed them off as a lesser problem.

"What's the plan?" Kayla asked, waiting for Jack to stop the car. They were getting very close to the Cell 114 and Jack had yet to slow down.

"This isn't going to be pretty," Jack replied through gritted teeth, "Brace yourselves."

That was the only warning the two other occupants of the car got before the SUV heavily thunked! They had run over Cell 114, knocking the man down just moments after he had turned to see them. Kayla had briefly registered the Cell 114's look of what would have been comical surprise in any other situation before they had hit him. Now, when she looked in the review mirror, all she saw was his prone body face-down behind them.

The trio scrambled from the car and ran towards him. It was very unlikely that he was dead, but Jack still oozed disappointment when he flipped the man over and checked his pulse, "This wasn't supposed to happen today," he complained bitterly as he eyed the only Cell 114 left. He turned sharply to look at Beth, "How do we stop it?"

In answer, Beth nodded to Kayla, who pulled out the tech neutralizer from Tosh. The other woman had given her a brief lesson in the appliance, and Kayla was fairly sure she could replicate the necessary effect. All she had to do was hold the neutralizer over the man and keep it there. All she had to do now was set it up correctly.

"Kayla?" Jack asked, a note of warning in his voice as she continued to set up the neutralizer, "Kayla," Jack repeated. Kayla looked up just in time to see the man spear Jack through the heart. Growling under her breath, she held the neutralizer over the man's changed arm, allowing his speech about how the other Cell 114s knew about Torchwood, Jack, and herself thanks to Beth, "Kayla?" Jack groaned.

"Nearly…nearly…he's done!"

Jack slid himself off of the blade with a sick squelching noise while Kayla and Beth automatically backed away from the man. This had been part of the plan, after all, and while Kayla disliked having Jack injure himself, the benefits of him making the Cell 114 weaponless for as long as they needed him to be were too large to pass up.

Sensing that something was off, or at least that the trio was now much more confident, the man formally named David tried to get to his feet, but Jack pressed his foot in his chest and easily pushed him down, "Don't bother," he taunted, "Your transmitter's dead, and so's your forcefield."

"You're lying," the Cell 114 accused, glaring hatefully up at Jack and Beth and Kayla in turn.

"Oh, yeah?" Lazily, Jack shoot the other man in the shoulder, watching with great pleasure as he flinched in pain, "Factor  _that_ into your plans," Jack allowed himself a moment to gloating grin before he sobered himself, "Now, when are the others coming?"

"They're already here," the Cell 114 answered tonelessly, "I won't let you take me."

With a very large smirk, he turned over his hand. Kayla saw a familiar red light blinking and started to open her mouth, but Jack was already shouting, "Run!"

They ran, trying desperately to put as much distance between them and the bomb before it went off. It was barely enough, and the blast still sent them flying heavily forwards onto the ground as fire rained down from where the bomb had gone off. But at least, Kayla reflected once she had caught her breath and had rolled onto her back to look at the undamaged sky above them, it wasn't a nuclear warhead.

* * *

They had all but collapsed when they had gotten back to the Hub. It would have been so nice to take a shower, to sit down, to eat some food unrushed, but there were  _still_ a pressing matter to attend to: Beth's future.

She could still activate, and while it was possible for her to fight it, no one wanted to test how well or how long that would last. It was why Beth was nervously sitting on a table in an unused office, picking at her jeans as the equipment to freeze her was set up by Owen and Tosh once more. Gwen had tried to protest, but Ianto had led her away with the spoken promise of coffee and the unspoken promise to allow her to sob in the archives as they waited for Beth's frozen body to be brought down.

Kayla went to summon Beth, pausing just outside the doorway to steel herself. She was a Time Lady; she wasn't  _stupid._  She knew exactly what Beth was going to do, and she hated the idea of Tosh or Owen or even Jack getting blood on their hands. They were only mostly human, and in the case of Tosh and Owen  _young_ humans at that. They did not deserve the consequences of killing another soul.

Kayla, in her mind, did. Because she had already killed so many people. What was one more death on her already damned self?

When Beth watched her come in, Kayla could see that calculating look in her eye as she counted the number of steps to the door. It made it just a bit easier for Kayla to say, "You're not going to go through with it."

Beth winced at the truth, but didn't shy away from it. She looked at Kayla and asked in a low voice, "Would you? I feel so, so guilty every waking second, but that isn't the worst part. The worst part is that when I turn back, I won't feel guilty any more. I'll want to carry out my mission. I won't even care about Mike. I'll forget all about him. I don't want to die as one of those things, Kayla. I don't want to forget about Mike."

Kayla crossed her arms, "You could have asked Jack. He would have shot you before we came back and would have made you out as a hero who stopped us from blowing up."

By the way Beth looked down at that, she supposed she might have been a  _bit_ harsh but she didn't have enough time to comfort her, so she continued on, "You don't have to transform your arm, but make it look like you're going to kill me. I'm going to turn around, you yell whatever and I shoot you."

The relief of Beth's face made Kayla feel sick, but she held steady as she turned on her heel and started to walk to the door. Behind her, Beth got up and yelled something about how she refused to be frozen and Kayla turned and shot her.

When Jack and Tosh and Owen had reached the office, they found Kayla coolly regarding Beth's dead body. She didn't say anything to them as she turned and left, leaving the Hub behind for momentary bliss that would never last because she didn't deserve it.

* * *

**I really couldn't see Kayla letting the others kill Beth. Even though she would hate the comparison, she's really like the Doctor with the self-sacrificing thing. Both of them, in some manner, see themselves as more worthy of participating in horrible acts than the humans around them, and both of those thoughts come from a place of self-loathing; the Doctor hates himself for the Time War and Kayla hates herself for the Time Agency.**

**For the rest of the chapter, Kayla didn't really have that much to do. Besides the last bit, she's very passive about Beth. Even though she's technically taking Gwen's place in this episode, I couldn't see her fighting for Beth the way Gwen did, mainly because Kayla really recognizes that Beth is a huge security risk.**


	6. Interlude 2

A few days later, one could find Ianto Jones and Kayla Hark sitting in the Hub sipping coffee that Ianto had made. The windows located high above in the ceiling allowed the morning light to fall through, occasionally catching Kayla's hair or Ianto's suit.

These early mornings that Ianto and Kayla often shared were usually spent in silence. Ianto had taken to bringing the day's newspaper and would read it while Kayla would sit in silence, occasionally messing with her Vortex Manipulator the way youths on Earth would flick through their cell phones and then put it down.

Today was different for two reasons: Ianto hadn't brought a newspaper and after only a few minutes of silence, he spoke, "Does Jack talk to you about things?"

It took a moment for Kayla to register the question, and then another few moments for her to come up with an answer, "It depends," she decided, "What do you mean by 'things?'"

Ianto made a face, clearly having wanted a simple answer to his ask, "Important things…like  _Hart_ and Gray."

"Jack and I were together with John for a while, so we don't talk about him. Gray…" Kayla frowned as she thought back to the name John had uttered before he left. He had been gloating about finding him, as if this was some huge achievement, "I asked that night," she recounted, "but Jack brushed me off."

"You too then," Ianto said somberly, "He does that to everyone. I figured you'd be special because you're his daughter," when Kayla stared at him for this, her mouth falling open, Ianto shrugged, "Torchwood One did DNA tests."

Yet another of her secretes revealed by Ianto, Kayla could only cross her arms as if they were protective armor, "I don't really view myself as that," she felt the need to say in a low voice, "Especially not recently."

Ianto nodded as if he had been expecting this reply, but didn't speak, instead watching as she glanced to Jack's office, "It's frustrating," she admitted, "He doesn't keep things from me."

"You're keeping many things from the rest of the team. Isn't getting angry at Jack for the same thing a bit hypocritical?"

Kayla made a face, "You're angry at him too," she grumbled in half-hearted protest, "And you're keeping things from the team too."

Ianto shrugged, "I never said I wasn't," when Kayla scoffed at this, Ianto just sipped his coffee calmly.

"Why'd you ask, anyways?"

"Innocent curiosity," Ianto answered blandly.

Raising her eyebrow, Kayla choose to not comment on that obvious lie, which acted as an end to their conversation. It was good timing too, because Jack strolled in not a few minutes later, his hair slightly mussed from a rare night of sleep, "Aren't you two a nice sight," he said in lieu of typical, non-flirty greeting.

Ianto blushed just from the tone Jack was using while Kayla, used to his actions, just sipped her coffee. She looked away out of respect for Ianto and his want of privacy when Jack kissed him, but otherwise remained in her position while Jack went to the Hub's sparse kitchen to decide on his breakfast.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Kayla seemed normal. A bit distant, but the rest of the team were too busy working on their various projects to fully notice. When it was nighttime, Kayla left the Hub and to her roof. She sat at the perch and dangled her legs over the side. She supposed the position would be terrifying to some, and to others it would make them concerned about her mental state, but Kayla was not afraid, and she was not planning on jumping.

She was there to talk to her companion: The stars.

"Am I damned?" She asked, her words slurred, but the stars didn't care, "I killed someone the other day. Can't even remember when; I suppose that makes it even worse."

"But still, am I damned?"

The stars didn't reply, but Kayla felt as if their silence was condemning, "She asked me to kill her, so I did. I don't think I should be damned for that. But all those children…"

Tears started to roll down her cheeks and when she spoke again, her voice had grown far too soft for anyone to hear, "I hope I'm damned, because that way I get what I deserve."

It felt good for her to say that, so she said it again, and then again, and again, and again, each time raising her voice until by the time she stopped, panting, her voice was hoarse from the shouting she had done.

"I should probably stop talking now," she slurred with a chuckle, "Jack'll notice."

But of course, she knew that was a lie. Jack seemed to notice little except for Torchwood, Ianto, occasionally Gwen, and rarely herself. It stung, but as Kayla fell back onto the roof so she was lying down, her legs still hanging on the perch, she reminded herself that it didn't  _matter_ if Jack didn't notice her. He was a mere mortal and she was a Time Lady.

If she wanted to, she could take over the entire world! Just the ability to was more intoxicating than whatever she had drank that night.

But right now, all she wanted to do was watch the stars until her eyes felt heavy. She closed them willingly, hoping for a night without her screams in them, without the phantom cries of a baby she had never gotten to hold, without the way even the  _Master_ pitted her.

Her hope proved false.

And when she woke up at dawn and snuck back into the Hub, the only person who seemed to notice her lack of sleep was Ianto. Wordlessly, he pressed another cup of coffee to her, and Kayla excepted, seeing the gleam in his eye that matched the one in hers. She had never wondered about the fallout of Torchwood One for Ianto. Yvonne had seemed like a horrible woman and she was sure the surviving staff would be glad for their escape from her, but that morning she couldn't help but wonder, just as he wondered how she had gotten that same look in her eyes.

Of course, neither would ever ask. Both knew the torture that had brought that gleam and both didn't want to say anything to other. Why would they bring up memories about something they would surely want to forget?

And so that morning, like so many before, was spent with Kayla drinking coffee and idly playing with her Vortex Manipulator while Ianto flipped through the morning newspaper.

* * *

**I know it's pretty short, but here's the interlude.**

**For some reason, I really started to like the idea of Kayla talking to the stars and using them as a way to rant. I know, it's depressing, but I like it. It fits the image of this regeneration of Kayla that I have in my mind.**

**On a separate note, has anyone been watching the new season? I like it so far, but nothing, except for Jodie and what we've seen of the new TARDIS, has really brought me into loving it. Jodie feels like the Doctor, and I like her as the Doctor, but besides that it's felt disconnected from the show, and not in a good way. Maybe the TARDIS being around again will make me feel better about it.**


	7. To the Last Man Pt. 1

On the morning of Friday the 20th, Kayla sat in her usual seat, drinking coffee, while Ianto sat in his usual seat, reading the paper. It seemed like it would an uneventful day before the weekend, and while a voice in Kayla's head that sounded suspiciously like the Doctor's was railing against that, Kayla was more than pleased to accept the promise of a lazy day.

However, her lazy day was subverted not by an alarm or a suddenly appearing Weevil. No, it was subverted by Ianto Jones carefully folding up his paper and looking at her severely, "It's the 20th."

Kayla hummed in agreement but didn't comment. Despite the amount she had drank that night – and the night before and the night before that – she was well aware of what day it was.

"The 20th of each month is a very special day for Tosh," Ianto was saying, a continuation that Kayla nearly missed due to her slight frustration at Ianto for acting as if she didn't know the day.

"What's so special about it?" She asked as Ianto didn't elaborate, merely waiting for her question with a raised eyebrow.

"It's when we unfreeze Tommy."

"Who?"

This launched Ianto into a tale about a young man in 1918 named Thomas Reginald Brockless or "Tommy." He had been 24 years old when the heads of Torchwood Three at the time – names that Ianto supplied and Kayla immediately forgot – had whisked him away from the hospital he was in after he had been injured on the front during World War I. All Torchwood Three currently knew was that Tommy was supposed to fix time and save the universe. Every other piece of information had been placed inside a box with a temporal lock tied to the rift frequencies of the hospital he had been taken from.

"When the time comes, Tommy will be the only one who can close the rifts between now and 1918," Ianto finished.

For the first time since she had regenerated, Kayla wished that she was human. She wished she could have a simple, stupid human reaction and nod along, maybe open her mouth at the end and appear shocked but okay with the entire scenario. But Kayla wasn't human; she was a Time Lady. Her mouth did drop open, but it quickly snapped shut as she half-shouted, "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Somewhere in the midst of her outrage she felt bad for shouting at Ianto. He had recoiled and was staring at her with such injured shock that she wanted to apologize. First, though, she had to explain why this whole thing with Tommy was  _not_ a good idea.

"They trapped you in a bloody paradox! Of all the stupid, things an  _ape_ could do! Did they  _not_ think about how writing something down would make it a sure thing? Did they  _not_ think before they set everything in motion? No! Of course not! They're  _human!_ Why would they ever-"

"Kayla!"

Jack's voice, harsh in its suddenness, made Kayla turn on her heel to glare up at him, "Come on Jack, you can't think this is a good idea!"

Jack crossed him arms, very much displeased, "My thoughts on this don't matter because  _I_ don't stand around yelling about them. Now if you can't keep yourself in check than you will be dismissed for the rest of the week. Do you understand?"

"T-This is insane Jack – "

"Do you understand?"

Kayla crossed her arms, staring defiantly up at her boss, "I understand perfectly. May I be excused?"

When Jack inclined his head in a silent 'yes,' Kayla whipped out of the Hub, leaving Jack and Ianto to eye each other.

"You alright?"

"Perfectly fine, sir," Ianto said as calmly as he could, "I apologize for upsetting her-"

"She's old enough to be able to control herself," Jack said with a half-hearted sneer. His face and tone softened as he looked at walked down to join Ianto in the middle of the Hub, "You have nothing to apologize for."

It felt like they were about to have a tender moment, one that Ianto would look back on with fondness…but Jack unintentionally ruined it by jokingly saying, "At least Gwen will react better."

And with the mention of the Welshwoman who Jack made eyes at and who made eyes at back, Ianto took the smallest of steps back from his boss, "I'll go get Tommy's file then, sir."

Eyeing him with evident concern, Jack nodded all the same. Ianto disappeared very quickly, all too soon leaving Jack as the only person in the Hub with the distinct feeling that he had messed up yet  _another_ situation with Ianto.

At least, Jack thought as his face fell into a frown as he looked around the now empty Hub, Tosh would get to have a great day today.

* * *

Jack felt fortunate that he could humor himself with giving Gwen the file, and he was very proud when he was able to get Ianto to banter with him about Tommy's true age.

But Kayla didn't come back that morning

He was angry at first, but that quickly changed to concern as the hours ticked by and Kayla still wasn't there. He crossed his arms, his booted-feet tapping as he sat at his desk, trying to focus on the files in front of him as he explained the full details about Tommy and the rifts he would cause in time by his mere presence. But his head was too filled with worried thought about Kayla roaming the streets of Cardiff. Did she know the way back? Would she  _come_ back?

Every electronic noise brought his eyes to his Vortex Manipulator, only for any hope to be dashed as he realized it was just a beep from Tosh's many programs or from Tommy's medical tests Owen was running.

He was able to put on a fairly good show for the rest of the team as he bid a farewell to Tosh and Tommy for their yearly date. He was truly happy for Tosh, but that happiness didn't stop him from secluding himself in his office, his own words just a few moments ago to Gwen mocking him in his head.

" _Nobody's perfect."_

By the time Gwen indicated she was leaving, Jack was starting to argue with himself about going out to get Kayla himself.

He started violently when a tea cup and two halves of a sandwich were placed in front of him on a tray, "You should eat, sir."

Jack looked up at Ianto. He had his professional mask in place, but Jack could see evident concern in his eyes as he indicated the food, "It's nearly 13:00."

Jack frowned down at the food, but made no move to eat it, earning himself a sigh from the Welshman, "Kayla will be back soon," he said firmly, "Not eating won't make her come back any sooner, though."

* * *

Ianto was, of course, right, though Kayla had no way of knowing any of the words he was saying. She was sitting at the front of the hospital from the files about Tommy; her back was firmly against the wall, her legs out in front of her and her arms crossed across her chest as she watched the sidewalks. She was sure someone from Torchwood Three would be along to check the dreary, run-down building, and she was more than fine with waiting for them to get there. She had no want to go back to the Hub anytime soon. Her anger about Tommy had surprised her, and until she knew she was completely calm and able to control herself, Kayla did not want to return. It would only lead to a yelling match with herself and Jack again, and the Time Lady couldn't see how that would be productive for anyone. Besides, she would hate for Tosh to overhear and get upset.

It came as a relief from her somber thoughts when she spotted a familiar figure walking up to the building. She got to her feet, wincing as the circulation slowly returned, "Gwen!" She called, hoping her voice would carry in the wind to the dark-haired Welshwoman.

Gwen turned, hearing her name. When she saw Kayla on the steps, she jogged over, a frown on her face, "I didn't know you were coming. Jack said you were off for the day."

"I was bored," Kayla shrugged. That was true, she  _was_ bored, which meant she hadn't lied to Gwen - at least not entirely.

Gwen nodded, "I get crazy on my days off as well," she said in an understanding tone, "Drives Rhys  _bonkers."_

Kayla laughed, or at least she tried to. It sounded painfully forced to her ears, and it brought about an awkward silence between the two women, "My husband's the more energetic one," she said quickly, a halting nature to her sentence brought on by the causal mention of the Doctor, "He can't stand certain days because they're too boring."

Gwen giggled at that, but then her face sobered at she eyed Kayla, "You don't speak about him much," she accused lightly.

Kayla crossed her arms, feeling more than a bit defensive, "I miss him very much."

"Does he travel for work?"

"Something like that."

Sensing that this was a subject Kayla did not want to talk about, Gwen turned to look at the building once more, "We should go in," she said with a fierce determination that only barely failed at hiding her apprehension, "Look for anything unusual."

Nodding, Kayla stepped forward and pushed the door open. She was surprised the thing didn't creak open eerily, but in a way the silence that greeted the two women as they walked through the abandoned hospital was even worse.

* * *

Kayla felt the shift in the time energy around them before the ghost made itself heard. They had been walking in the abandoned hospital for only a few minutes when she felt her stomach drop and she stumbled, making Gwen turn to look at her. The Welshwoman opened her mouth to say something, only for a man's chuckle to cut off anything she could have said.

Still feeling so horribly wrong, Kayla turned to see the ghost for herself. The room they were in was broken, allowing sunlight to illuminate the features of the man. He was a one-legged, wearing hospital issue stripped pajamas with one pant rolled up to where his leg ended. He leaned heavily on crutches as he just stood there, smiling toothily.

"Hello," Gwen tried, her voice trembling, "I said hello," she said in a slightly firmer voice when the man didn't respond.

He started to move towards them, the crutches hardly hindering his speed. Kayla and Gwen started to back up rapidly, "I don't think he can hear us," Kayla hissed to Gwen as the man continued towards them, "Maybe he can't even see us."

Gwen nodded jerkily, her eyes widening as first hers and then Kayla's backs hit the wall. Just as the man was nearly upon him, he vanished completely. After several seconds of staying at the wall, her breathing barely slowed, Gwen turned and started to walk down the hallway near them, Kayla following. The lights in the next room flickered and then went out.

Both women felt the presence behind them. Turning slowly, they started horribly when they took in three men in hardhats and neon colored jackets, "Are you alright, loves?" One of them asked, "You both look as if you've seen a ghost."

* * *

Kayla was less than pleased when Gwen called Jack and had him come to the hospital. She stayed near the back, only giving Jack a nod as he came in. She saw his eyes widen when he saw her, but he quickly schooled his face as Gwen explained what the workmen had told them: The hospital was going to be torn down.

"Could that have triggered the time rift?" Gwen asked Jack.

"Could have," Jack shrugged, "Maybe all the psychic trauma and Rift energy charged it up like a battery. 1918, this place was full of wounded soldiers. They had four years of it. Passchendaele, the Somme, a million British soldiers killed during the Great War. It was like walking into hell. Believe me. I was there," as Kayla watched Gwen's eyes widen comically at this new information about Jack, Jack turned and pressed the comm. in his ear, "Owen? You got anything?"

Kayla gritted her teeth as she heard no reply. She hadn't had the chance to grab her comm. that morning, and now she was going to miss vital information from Owen; she could only hear Jack's response to whatever he had said, "Not yet. just keep watching."

As Jack tapped his comm. off, the workmen started to break down the interior walls a few rooms, and possibly a floor or two, down. The noise was startling, but the action was no surprise. The workmen had indicated that the hospital was coming down in only a few days, and they had been less than pleased when Gwen had displayed one of her many fake badges and had told them that they were staying.

Kayla groaned as her stomach suddenly dropped away, leaving a pit of nausea. Gwen, who was closer to her than Jack, turned and looked at her with worried eyes, "You did that the last time," she pointed out softly.

Kayla jerked her head in a nod, though she quickly regretted this action, "'Nother ghost," she warned hoarsely.

Backing up this claim, the faint sound of a man signing reached them. Nodding to the corridor it was coming from, Gwen and Jack started to head down it, Kayla trailing behind them with her arms wrapped around herself protectively. At some point, Jack pointed Gwen to a different area, and she headed down her own corridor, leaving Kayla and Jack alone with their ghost.

"Tick tock, wind up the clock," the man was singing. He was sitting in a wheelchair with the same pajamas as the ghost from earlier. A woman, dressed in a nurse's outfit, was pushing him slowly, laughing as he sang, "I like them all."

"I bet you say that to all the girls," she said with another laugh.

"Show me a skirt, and my brain simply whirls," the man continued to sing, a grin splitting his face.

The woman shook her head and tried to make her voice stern, but the affect was cancelled out by her laughing, "Shush. Matron won't have singing. You'll get a good telling off if she hears you."

"I love their dimples and curls. Tick tock, wind up the clock. And I start my day over again. Tick tock, wind up the clock. And I start my day over again."

As the man in the wheelchair and the nurse walked past them, Jack started to speak softly in his comm., answering an unheard question from Owen and then checking on Gwen. Once that was done, Jack turned to look at Kayla, "You alright?"

"No," Kayla gritted out, " _They_ shouldn't be here."

Jack nodded, his arms crossing as he took in the Time Lady, "You should stay in the Hub for this," he said firmly.

It was a testimony to how horrible she felt that Kayla didn't argue with this near-order, only frowning and trying to appear challenging. But the sudden weakness in her legs that prompted her to lean – Jack had said it looked like a fall to him – against the wall made her look anything but challenging.

She wanted to stay that way, not trusting herself to walk out of the hospital, but Gwen was at her side the entire time and she helped far more than Kayla wanted to admit. The ride back and entering to the Hub was tense between Kayla and Jack, not only because of Jack's concern for her but also because of how they had parted. Kayla knew that their argument was going to be brought up at some point, but the fragments had drained her so much it was all she could to do to sit and watched as Jack talked in a low voice to Ianto and then dialed Tosh's phone, calling her and Tommy back to the Hub.

It seemed today was a real bitch, because even  _Tosh_ couldn't have a nice time.

* * *

**I actually dislike this episode. The whole idea seems so stupid. Why would past Torchwood Three hide something from current Torchwood like how Tommy will save the world? Why let Tosh form an attachment? I feel like my dislike came through in my writing, so I apologize for that.**

**That's really it. There's nothing interesting to say about Kayla in this.**


	8. To the Last Man Pt. 2

Kayla was only feeling marginally stronger by the time Tosh and Tommy had gotten settled around the conference table. She lazily watched as Jack gave his explanation for what had happened, elaborating on the one he had given to Tosh on the phone as his way of calling her back to the Hub.

"Demolishing the hospital is what triggers the time shift," Jack finished firmly.

"So don't demolish it," Owen suggested. As usual, he was leaning far back in his chair, his legs on the table as he eyed his co-workers and boss.

Jack shook his head, "Too late, it's already started."

"It was  _always_ going to start anyways," Kayla added, her voice weaker than normal. The other looked over at her, confusion clearly written on their faces, "As soon as someone read what the Torchwood Three who took Tommy had written, it became a fixed point. It makes so that these actions  _have_ to happen, and even if they hadn't written it down, Tommy still has to leave because his presence will kill us all if he doesn't."

She was well aware of the glower from Jack for her addition, but Kayla ignored it in favor of addressing the questioning looks she was receiving for her statement, "When Tommy was brought over, a piece of the time he came from was brought over as well. When two time periods exist at the same time, it creates holes in time, which allow more people to pass over. If Tommy isn't sent back, then those holes will get bigger and bigger until they consume all of time currently."

As Torchwood continued to give her questioning looks, with Jack even forgetting to glower at her from confusion – he had never studied time theory at the Time Agency – Kayla tried to cast around in her brain for a metaphor the humans would understand, but all she could come up with was one that brought up painful memories to a time when she was more rotund…

"Picture time like a ball," Kayla started slowly, her voice cracking ever-so-slightly, "And picture Tommy as a crack in the ball from the inside. The longer he stays, the bigger the crack gets until the ball is completely gone, and you can't fill it up again because there's no ball."

One by one, each person slowly dawned on what Kayla had been saying all along, making the Time Lady struggle to not snort at their inability to understand until  _now._

"That's," Jack said as he recovered, bringing the team's eyes back to him, "why we've got to stop it."

With nothing left to explain, the team and Tommy exited the conference room, Jack giving orders as they left after he checked in on Ianto, who had been watching the box in case it opened. Tosh and Owen were sent to the hospital to gather readings and set up equipment, Gwen was told to go through files that Ianto had pulled, and finally, "Kayla and I will be in my office. Once we're done, she'll go help you, Gwen."

No one questioned the orders as they headed off, though Kayla was less than happy as she walked after Jack into his office, closing the door behind them. She felt as if she was going to be scolded as she sat in front of the desk, Jack taking his seat behind it.

"Where were you this morning?" Jack asked, "You left the Hub at six and I didn't see or hear from you until I got to the hospital."

"I needed time to cool off," Kayla shrugged, her arms crossing at the urgent tone in Jack's voice, "I wandered around a bit and then I got bored, so I went to the hospital and waited until someone from Torchwood came."

"You should have sent a message," Jack pointed out, "Why didn't you contact me on the comm.? Why didn't you use your Vortex Manipulator?"

"I needed time to cool off from  _you,_ Jack. Besides, you had more important things to do. It's not like I really matter here."

Kayla was surprised at the wounded expression that entered Jack's face, "Is that what you really think?" He asked in a low voice. When Kayla shrugged, Jack looked down at the desk, "Of course you matter here, Kay. You've been a huge help to Tosh with the languages and you've helped in the field with Gwen," he frowned and studied her, tilting his head as if he needed a different angle to take her in, "Maybe this isn't the best place for you right now. Torchwood has a way-"

"It's better than the TARDIS," Kayla snapped, her posture stiffening, "There aren't as many reminders about everything I've lost."

Jack continued to stare at her for a while, his lips pressing into a frown, "Once everything is settled with Tommy, we'll have a night off. That will help you."

Kayla struggled to not snap something in response. She  _hated_ the pitying look Jack was giving her. Even when he dismissed her and she went to go help Gwen with the dusty, nearly falling apart reports from former Torchwood, she was still angry every time she thought about that look. Combine that with the anger she had about the entire Tommy situation in general and Kayla was  _not_ in a good mood by the time Gwen relayed from the conversation she had had with Owen that the world nearly ending was going to happen  _soon._

"Or actually ending," Kayla corrected. When Gwen made a reproaching face, Kayla shrugged half-heartedly, "Don't rely on Tommy saving the world. Even if everything goes as planned, the time shifts alone could still destroy time."

"Well," Gwen started slowly, "we'll just hope for the best, won't we?" Not waiting for Kayla to answer, the Welshwoman got up from her chair and went to report the new information to Jack.

* * *

About an hour later, Kayla and the rest of the time found themselves in the conference room along with an uncomfortable Tommy. Tosh had claimed the seat next to him and had started to hold his hand underneath the table. No one pointed it out, though Owen looked like he wanted to, because everyone understood that Tosh and Tommy were receiving heartbreaking news: Tommy was going to be sent back to 1918 in 12 hours.

Even Kayla, who deeply disliked the entire situation around Tommy, didn't say anything about how it was a good thing Tommy was going home and time would be repaired. In fact, she forced herself to say nothing, which, of course, was a struggle for her when Jack handed Tommy a rift manipulator. Rift manipulator's were incredibly dangerous and could all life in the universe, yet Jack just casually handed it to Tommy, "It's basically a key. Once you're inside the time shift, you can close the door behind you," he explained.

Tommy took it and held it in his hand as if it didn't have the ability to kill everyone in the universe, "And that's it? I'm gone?" He asked, looking up at Jack.

Frowning, Jack nodded to Ianto, "Tommy, stay with Ianto. Tosh, with me."

Leaving the conference room uncomfortably silent, Gwen almost immediately jumped up to go and grab Tommy's items in the archives, followed soon after by Owen's offer to help her find them. They headed out in a rush before anyone could think, much less, actually, stop them.

"I can't believe I'm going back," Tommy said in a low voice. Ianto nodded while giving Tommy a smile, though all the while his eyes remained on Kayla with a silent threat that kept the woman quiet as the boy continued to speak, "It'll be nice to see my parents again. Especially since they're…"

"I'm sure they'll be happy to see you," Ianto cut in gently, saving Tommy from finishing his sentence, "I'm sure you were missed while you were on the front."

Tommy nodded jerkily, "My mum cried when I left, and my dad gave me his pocket watch."

"What happened to the pocket watch?" Ianto asked, a slight smile on his face at the gesture from Tommy's parents.

"I lost it," Tommy replied mournfully, making Ianto's smile slip away, "Must've fallen in the trenches at some point."

Looking even worse than when Tosh had left, Tommy seemed more than alright to sit in silence for the rest of the evening, clearly uneager to revisit the people in his life he hadn't seen in years. Kayla was quite alright with this, and didn't try to prompt any conversation, leaving Ianto to bite his lip and watch the silent figure.

Just before the silence started to become frustrating, Gwen and Owen reappeared briefly to drop off the box of Tommy's clothes before they rushed out, Owen grumbling about the dust and Ianto's lack of dusting ability as he left. Scowling after his coworker, Ianto still noticeably relaxed as he opened the dusty carboard box and started to pull out the items in neat stacks, "We've kept these in the archives. You were wearing them in the hospital when Torchwood took you," Ianto explained.

"Good job the moths haven't got into them," Tommy tried to joke, eyeing the clothes Ianto had pulled out. It was a pair of the hospital issue pajamas Kayla recognized from the patient in the wheelchair and the one-legged man on crutches. On top of them was a worn World War I army jacket which had Tommy's name patched on to it.

Despite it being his clothes, Tommy eyed them skeptically, "So I'll be saving the world in some pajamas? How daft is that?"

"I've seen it done," Kayla said before she could stop herself. At least she could take comfort with her voice not failing her at her mention of the Doctor, but Ianto's significant glance to her made her wish it had.

"Was that Christmas a while back?" He asked in a not-so-causal voice. When Kayla jerked her head in a nod for her response, Ianto looked down at the clothes, "I remember that Christmas. I'm A positive."

Kayla looked down at the table in front of her, suddenly fascinated by the way it reflected the light. She refused to look up as Ianto and Tommy headed out. Once they were gone, she fell down in her chair and opened her mouth, her shoulders shaking as she started to cry silently as the full impact of how  _much_ things had changed since Christmas a few years ago hit her once again.

* * *

For the first time in a few weeks, Kayla didn't leave that night to go to her roof. She had started to head to her bed, but the sounds she could hear stopped her. Paused in the Hub, Kayla glanced at the couch pressed to the far side of the wall. From what she knew about Time Lords, sleep was not needed often, but still needed, and Kayla hadn't been sleeping since she started going out weeks ago. It only took a few moments for her to get comfortable enough on the couch, her jacket acting as a makeshift blanket as she fell asleep.

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, Ianto had kindly placed a cup of tea in front of her, covered with a paper towel to hold its warmth. As she slowly sat up, she spotted Ianto speaking in a low voice to a grumpy Owen. Ianto placed a bracing hand on the man's shoulder, and while Owen accepted it for a moment, he soon brushed it off and headed to his work space.

Frowning after him, Ianto turned and spotted Kayla and her new status. He rushed over, a blush starting to grow, "I hope we weren't too much-"

"It's fine," Kayla said briskly, perhaps too briskly at the look Ianto gave her, "Really," Kayla insisted, "Even if you had been very quiet I would have heard everything."

Ianto winced and his blush became much more pronounced, "Well," he said, struggling to maintain his usual composure, "It won't happy again."

Seeing no reason to reassure him any further, Kayla nodded in return. She had no doubt Ianto would press for his and Jack's sexual encounters to happen at another location, but she also had no doubt that Jack would forgot and press for it to happen at the Hub within a few weeks.

Picking up the tea that was still resting in front of her, Kayla watched from the couch as Gwen and finally Tosh and Tommy walked in. As if he was cued, Jack exited his office for the first time that morning and started to give orders. Owen was to standby in case anything went horribly wrong, Gwen would be outside the hospital to manage anyone who wanted to enter the area with Ianto's "beautiful Welsh voice," to guide her – Owen's loud protests at this compliment led to Gwen throwing objects at him until she left – and Kayla was to use her work station to monitor the Rift. Tosh had walked her through it before and it was simple enough for Kayla to remember it fully. Judging by the way Tosh's hands were constantly smoothing her dress out, Kayla doubted she would have been able to type anything, much less monitor Rift activity on a computer.

In only thirty minutes, Jack, Tosh, Gwen, and Tommy had exited the Hub. Ianto paused in his tidying and even Owen glanced after them. Both resumed as if nothing had happened, but there was a certain weight around the Hub that was only lifted an hour or so later when Tosh, Gwen, and Jack returned. Tosh immediately went to the conference room, and an anxious Ianto followed after her. Gwen went to her workstation, but she didn't bother to start the computer.

The only one who spoke was Jack. Owen had looked up at him when he had entered and Jack, feeling Owen's eyes, had taken a deep breath and said, "It's done."

* * *

The rest of the day was mournful and emotionally exhausting. By the time the final hours rolled around, Kayla was just as anxious as the rest of the team to clock out and, in her case, become thoroughly shitfaced. Only three more hours…Of course the alarms had to go up, startling everyone into cries of dismay and just general shock.

"What's happening?" Gwen shouted over the noise, looking around frantically.

Tosh, who had returned to her workstation just an hour ago, was looking at the computer screen in front of her, but her eyes were too glassy for her to see properly, "I don't know," she admitted.

But Kayla did, and so did Jack. Kayla only knew because as soon as the alarm had started, she had nearly toppled over from a huge wave of nausea and dizziness that had slammed into her. She grabbed onto the desk in front of her and gripped it tightly, her hand turning white. She felt horrible, and the sensation of Jack being near to her, usually something she could ignore, was  _not_ helping.

"The time shift hasn't stopped," Jack shouted out, answering Gwen's question, "Toshiko, show me the city, now!"

Kayla didn't see Tosh nod her head jerkily, but she could hear the other woman frantically typing on her keyboard, and she could hear the little, horrified gasp she gave at the result of her search, "It's spreading out from the hospital."

"What the hell are they?" Gwen squeaked, her voice grating on Kayla's ears.

Kayla thought about answering, but the next wave of nausea hit her and she quickly snapped her mouth shut and clenched her jaw.

"Chunks the past erupting into the present," Jack answered.

"They're everywhere," Owen pointed out. At some point he had joined the group around Tosh's computer, but Kayla could not say she had noticed that until he had spoken.

"What about the Rift key?" Gwen asked, her voice somehow getting  _sharper_ in her urgency.

"Tommy isn't using it," Tosh answered, a hard edge to her voice.

"Why not?" Ianto asked; just like Owen, Kayla couldn't say she had noticed his presence until he had spoken as well. She supposed if she lifted her head up she would have, but the table in front of her felt so wonderfully cool…better to stay down.

"I don't know," Tosh snapped sarcastically, "Because he's just gone back to ninety years ago? Because he's shell shocked?"

"Hang on, where's Kayla?"

Feeling like it was safe enough for her to do so, Kayla opened her mouth to groan. Within moments, her horrible sickness seemed to get worse. She cracked an eye open – when had she closed it? Kayla didn't remember that – to see Jack hovering over her. Not trusting herself to not puke on him, she waved her hand far, far away from her. Jack stared at her, cocking his head to the side like a confused puppy as Kayla continued the motion, but after several repeats he seemed to finally get it because he took several steps back. When Kayla relaxed, Jack nodded sharply and turned to the others, "She'll be fine," he stated.

Owen, of course, was the only one who didn't answer this with a skeptical silence, "That's great and all, but we still have the time ball deflating around us."

"One of us will have to go back."

"You'll get stuck in 1918. I've got an idea."

From her desk, Kayla listened as Owen dragged the team over the Autopsy room and started to explain his idea, "The time shifts are forcing the Rift open. If we are quick, we can use it to our advantage. A tiny amount should do it. We know Tommy's exact location in time. We send an image of you through to him."

If Kayla hadn't felt so horrible, she would have been impressed by Owen's plan. All she could muster was a slight smile; for an annoying, brittle ape, he really wasn't that bad. Sending Jack in as a psychic projection was a much better idea than Jack going back to 1918 and coming back hundreds of years later.

"Let me do it," Tosh's voice drifted over suddenly, "He trusts me."

Kayla wished she could see the other's faces. She knew that Ianto would be staring at Tosh in horror, Owen would be turning away to try and hide his dislike of this idea, Gwen had made a squeaking sound that could have been agreement or disagreement, and Jack just briskly replied with, "Okay."

Then there were noises of metal hitting metal and Owen snapping as they likely hooked Tosh to the machine. Kayla thought she might have heard Owen explain how it worked in detail to Tosh, but another, much, much stronger wave of nausea that made her go limp, cut off her ability to concentrate for several moments.

She was only somewhat aware of Jack warning Tosh of her strict time limit, and then a loud whirling sound filled the Hub as Tosh briefly went to 1918 and spoke to Tommy. Kayla was sure it was emotional, but all she cared about was the wave she could feel coming, and with it a sense of fear. If they kept getting stronger, how much longer would be until she passed out? Died?

The last thought filled her with a sense of giddiness that made her stomach clench. She closed her eyes, waiting for the wave to hit…

But it never did. As the whirling noise stopped, Kayla allowed herself to relax from the anticipation and fall asleep at her desk, far too tired to deal with the effort of moving to her bed or even the couch.

* * *

And later, when Jack had enlisted Ianto in carrying Kayla to her bed and the two men were standing in the Hub, did Jack turned to his lover with his arms crossed and ask, "Do you think there's something off about her lately?"

* * *

**I like this chapter much more than the other one mainly because there's a lot more Kayla in it. Plus, I finally have a bit of Kayla's actual plot taking place with Jack noticing there's something "off" about her. Kayla's not showing up to Torchwood drunk or anything, but she's definitely changed because of her night time activities and regeneration.** **This noticing plot is pretty slow to grow, but I promise it does.**


	9. Interlude 3

It was two weeks until Kayla went back to her roof. She sat on the ledge as if nothing had changed, but they had. For the past two weeks, Kayla and Tosh had gotten significantly closer.

It started when Tosh sat down with Kayla at lunch in the conference room. She didn't speak, but she didn't move away either. The next day, the same thing happened. And the next day…and the next. On the fifth day of this repeat behavior, Tosh started to talk. Kayla couldn't tell if she was talking to  _her,_ because she responded whenever Gwen asked her a question about the subject she was speaking, but she didn't stop talking when no one was around either.

After a week or so of this, when Kayla and Tosh were the only people in the conference room, and the Hub in general, Tosh broke down and started to cry. Kayla had tried to comfort her, to at least go through the steps that might make her feel better, and that seemed to work. Tosh calmed down and explained how broken up she was about Tommy, about how it hurt whenever Owen didn't look at her, and about how she was struggling to write a birthday card for her mother.

Quite suddenly for Kayla, the two were talking regularly to one another. Tosh seemed to like having someone to bounce ideas off of, and Kayla enjoyed offering up a key point she might have missed. She had some…slip ups with her speech a few times, but Tosh didn't seem to be bothered by Kayla's frustrating rants about "apes fucking things up for the rest of the universe," and thankfully, those rants had happened after everyone had gone home for the night. She was fairly sure Tosh had come to the conclusion that Kayla wasn't fully human, but like everything around her so far, Tosh took this in stride and didn't ask Kayla about it.

Everything felt  _good_ for a bit, and Kayla felt like she was becoming a responsible, practical person. She had stopped drinking or doing anything she could get her hands on at night. She hadn't even gone to her roof in nearly two weeks!

But then Ianto made everything fall apart by looking at her over his coffee one morning and saying with a slight smile, as if it was a  _good_ thing, "You've become very maternal towards Tosh."

Kayla choked her tea. When she was done spluttering and gasping, she managed to croak, "What do you mean?"

"You're just being really responsible to her. I know for a fact she's been sleeping again, and that's all thanks to you," when he was finished, he gave Kayla a wide smile.

Kayla, however, was reeling. Throughout the entire day she was distant, and Tosh, picking up on this change, wisely asked Ianto if they could head out together. About an hour after they had left, Kayla left the Hub as well. She got her usual vices, used a few of them, and wandered over to her roof.

After the horrible, horrible day she had had, she finally allowed herself to cry, and yell, and break things. Ianto's comment had stung more than he likely ever intended. He didn't know her history, including everything that she had lost. He didn't know what the word 'maternal' meant to her.

The only ones who did, who really understood her pain, were the stars. They had seen her when her children died, of that Kayla  _had_ to believe, because if she didn't, then what was left for her to believe in?

"It's hard," she murmured mostly to herself, "It's so fucking hard being responsible. When Tosh gives me that look when she's completed something and she wants me to be proud, it makes me want to scream sometimes. How can I act like a parent to her when I have no one I  _can_ parent. Not really. Tosh isn't my responsibility, you know. She's Jack's; all Jack's.  _Not mine,_ she paused as she looked up at the stars, "Do I have anyone that's mine?"

There was no response, and Kayla knew that was because there wasn't an answer. Her children were dead, but even if they had lived she would have shared them eventually. Her Bonded was shared with herself and the apes he traveled with, Jack was shared with Torchwood and the Doctor, and Torchwood Three's team was shared with Jack.

It was a hard pill to swallow that she had no one, but it was one she had swallowed repeatedly. Perhaps one day, it would go down better. But when she came to the conclusion yet again that she had no one, Kayla felt even more lost. What did she have all to herself? Or at least, what could she claim for herself in that moment? The only other person she was close to on Earth was Martha Jones, and she was shared with the Doctor, wasn't she?

Kayla shook her head rapidly as she corrected herself mentally. The last time she had spoken with the Doctor, he had mentioned Martha had a good job at UNIT but had indicated she did not want to see him anytime soon. The Doctor had been upset, Kayla remembered, and she had tried to muster up the energy to comfort him. He had shortly hung up and they hadn't spoken since.

Kayla knew it was a long shot, especially with how late the hour was, yet she still dialed the other woman's number and waited for the call to connect on her Vortex Manipulator.

" _Hello?"_

"Martha?" Kayla checked, surprised at how alert the woman's voice was.

" _Kayla? Is everything okay?"_

"It's fine," Kayla reassured quickly. The silence that followed made her swallow hard, "I have a favor to ask."

" _What do you need?"_

"Can I come stay with you for a bit?"

There was a long pause before Martha replied,  _"Yeah…Yeah, of course. Kayla, are you sure everything is okay? You don't sound too good."_

"It's probably just the connection," Kayla dismissed, "How does a week sound?"

" _That'll work."_

"I'll let Jack know and I'll contact in a bit."

With that out of the way, Martha and Kayla said their farewells before the Time Lady hung up. Under the light of the stars, Kayla relaxed back onto the roof, a small, small smile stretching her face.

She likely wouldn't have been smiling if she knew Martha was calling up Jack, a heavy frown etching her face as she told the man that Kayla seemed…off, and Martha was really worried and wondering if he had seen anything, and while Jack hadn't seen anything directly, he promised to keep an eye on Kayla and let Martha know if he saw anything.

Kayla  _really_ would not be smiling if she knew that after that call, Martha had phoned the Doctor and had let him know her concerns. No, Kayla would not be smiling as those three people came up with a plan to try and help her.

* * *

**I know it's short, but nothing really worked to make it longer, so here it is. We're building up to the middle, which is what I called the part where Kayla is with Martha at UNIT, and then from there it's the downhill rush until the end of series 4 of Doctor Who and the end of series 2 of Torchwood.**


	10. Meat Pt. 1

It was a week until Kayla was planning on going to stay with Martha for a bit, and so far, all the Time Lady could think about was how she was going to tell Jack. She knew she had been acting differently, and she knew she had to play this carefully…causally.

How do you tell your boss that you're taking a break? She had never had to do something like that at the Time Agency, though then again, the Time Agency was not a normal job and there had been no 'taking breaks' from it.

" _Kayla,_ come  _on!"_ At Jack's voice, sharp with annoyance, Kayla looked up to see him looking at her, "Have you heard a  _thing_ I've said?"

"Uh…no?"

Jack glowered at her, "We got a call from one of our lookouts. Weird, giant meat in the back of a truck. If you had been listening, you would know that we're  _leaving."_

Nodding, Kayla got to her feet and rushed over to Tosh. One confused look was all the other woman needed to start rapidly explaining everything to her for the entire car ride. And while yes, it was pretty boring for Kayla, at least she didn't have to notice Jack's angry looks at her.

* * *

Once they had arrived, the group exited the SUV with more than a bit of showing off to the public police. It was one of the rare crime scenes that Ianto had tagged along with, and like any pack of animals, Torchwood postured more when they were all together. It made Kayla roll her eyes as she trailed behind, taking in the police officers and the anxious people who had witnessed the accident. The person driving was long since gone, but before Kayla asked where it was, she noticed how…bad the accident was, and the question died in her throat.

She doubted human police liked to keep a bloody corpse around for very long.

Jack was the first one to open the door to the truck and was the first one in, the others climbing in as soon as they saw it was stable enough to hold them. Closing the door somewhat behind them, casting enough light to see, the team all took in the giant slab of meat in front of them. Any shock they had at the sight, however, was quickly replaced by the horrible, horrible smell.

"Urgh, it stinks," Jack all but gagged as he kicked the meat with his boot, "No bones. Just dense flesh."

Owen, who had knelt down beside the slab, screwed up his face as he prodded it with a finger, "It's not like any flesh I've ever seen."

"What is it?" Gwen wondered.

"It's alien," Kayla said decisively. When Gwen looked over at her, she shrugged, "It's bigger than your cows, isn't it?"

Gwen frowned at the phrasing but nodded all the same. For a moment, there was an awkward silence, broken by Jack clapping his hands together once, "Okay, I suggest we take a sample back to the Hub."

Without even needing to be told, Gwen jerked her head in a nod and then slipped out of the door, already going to tell the police what they needed. Ianto headed after her, always prepared for any…difficulties with the police that might occur.

With nothing else to do, the rest of the team exited and went back to the SUV, Gwen and Ianto joining with a proud grin on Gwen's face and a smug look on Ianto's.

"Did you find out where it came from?" Jack asked Gwen before anyone got into the SUV.

"No, but it's a Harwood's lorry so they should know," Ianto answered for her.

Gwen frowned at the brand name, "Oh, that's Rhys' firm."

Looking a bit put out at the mention of Rhys' name, Jack turned and opened his door, "Let's go."

* * *

As soon as they were back at the Hub, Owen got to work on the mysterious meat in the autopsy room while the others started to work at their own workstations. About an hour after they had returned, Kayla noticed Jack walk over the autopsy room. Owen, having already noticed his boss, was already prepared and started to speak as soon as he was at the rickety barrier around the open pit, "There is evidence of a vertebral column but its genetic make-up isn't compatible with any known animal."

"Any idea  _what_ it is?" Jack pushed, which was a stupid question in Kayla's opinion. Did he not understand what Owen had said?

She was surprised that Owen hadn't scoffed aloud to the question Kayla had scoffed at mentally, choosing instead to actually answer it, "I'll have to scan it. But whoever's farming this meat knows it's dodgy. See this? Official vet stamp, fit for human consumption. It's fake. It's good, but it's fake."

Kayla didn't have to see Jack's face to know he was frowning. When he turned, a frown on his face that made Kayla smirk to herself, he pointed to Tosh, "Tosh, get onto the haulage firm. Find out where that meat is from and where it's heading."

As Tosh started to do just that, Gwen huffed loudly, "Why does it have to be Rhys' firm? It's a bit too close to home."

"Want to stand down?" Jack offered.

In a reward for his question, Gwen gave him a sharp glare, "No, I want to find out what's going on," as if cued from Gwen's concern, Ianto appeared at her elbow with a cup of a tea that Gwen took, "Thank you, Ianto."

As if it was also cued, only this time in mockery, the radio that had been faintly playing music for a while now, music that Kayla could hear fairly well and could attest that it was horrible, went to a commercial break, and the first ad… _"Harwood's. You won't be sorry with a Harwood's lorry."_

"Catchy," Ianto commented lightly, breaking up tension that was about to appear.

Tosh frowned and turned in her seat, actually pausing in her work, "Do you think the haulage firm is in on it, too?"

"Rhys?" Gwen asked, a sharp note to her voice at the implication, "No. He doesn't know what goes in the vans. He just hires them out."

"The driver would have seen them loaded," Kayla pointed out. She wasn't interested in getting into an argument with Gwen, but it bothered her the way Gwen dismissed her fiancé's possible involvement, though then again, Kayla could remember being in love…she would have dismissed anything against the Doctor then.

That thought made her frown. Wasn't she still in love with her Bonded? Sure, it had been a bit frustrating to talk to him lately, but she hadn't stopped loving him…had she? The lack of an answer made her cross her arms, as if she was warding herself off from an invisible chill. This was just more proof, she decided, for her need to see Martha.

As soon as the phone call to Rhys' firm was done, Kayla was going to talk to Jack about going to UNIT at the end of the week.

With that settled in her mind, Kayla focused back in on the conversation, listening as Tosh wrapped up with Rhys and hung up before he could press why he, apparently the manager of the firm, should get more information.

Without even needing to be told, Tosh got to work on pulling up traffic cameras, the group around her watching over her shoulder and Kayla watching from her vantage point of her workspace just next to Tosh. Within moments, the footage was running from that morning, and the team watched as the traffic passed back and forth until…"Got him," Jack indicated with a sharp nod and a delicate point to the lorry, "And there he is coming back forty minutes later. Let's say it takes twenty minutes to load. We are talking a ten mile radius."

"Jack!"

At Owen's exclamation, Jack turned on his heel, "Yeah?" He called, already walking to Owen.

With nothing else to do, Gwen and Tosh both followed Jack, and Kayla did so a few seconds later. The foursome joined Owen in the autopsy room, eyeing the meat as Owen stated, "The scan shows it's definitely alien meat."

"Where the hell would they get it from?" Jack asked, a frown on his face that matched Kayla's very angry one. Both had the same posture too; their shoulders were set and their arms were crossed, though Kayla was also gripping her arms tightly as well.

"If it's going into the processing plant that means it's going into pies, burgers, pasties, everything," Tosh suddenly gasped, cuing horrified spluttering from Gwen and a sharp curse from Kayla in an unknown – alien – language.

"That means people have been eating it for months," Gwen managed to get out once she was done spluttering.

Nodding along, Owen started to speak rapidly about the meat, "Well, the DNA traces are stable. There are some signs of animal sedative, but no diseases or residues. My guess is it's good to eat," he said.

"Would you eat it?" Gwen asked.

Owen never answered, not because he didn't know, but because Ianto had come over and announced in the pause of conversation, "Pizza's arrived. I presumed it would be a late one."

Owen started to smile at this, but then  _something_ struck him and he started to frown suspiciously instead, "What did you get me?"

Ianto frowned and raised an eyebrow, "Your usual. Meat Feast."

As one, everyone, even Kayla, turned slowly to look at the meat. Breaking the silence, Owen swallowed audibly, "Lovely."

* * *

Despite his clear disgust for the alien meat, Owen still ate the pizza, though he did so  _after_ ripping off the pieces of meat on top of it. He was the only Torchwood member, besides Kayla, to eat the pizza  _at all,_ which meant the rest of the team looked on with curled lips as Owen and Kayla ate. This was likely not because they were eating the pizza, but because Kayla was eating the pizza  _with_ the toppings.

Jack, who  _hated_ pizza, also wasn't eating it, but he made it clear to his members that if it weren't for the toppings being on  _pizza,_ he would have eaten them anyways. He proved that by taking Owen's discarded toppings and eating it, occasionally making a face at the bits of pizza still on them.

The only team member not eating the pizza who was able to control his face was Ianto, which meant he was the first one that broke the silence, "I've narrowed it down to three potential areas. Only one warehouse is unoccupied. It's just outside Merthyr."

Owen nodded sagely at this report, "Makes sense. Who knows what goes on there?"

Rolling his eyes, Jack started to give off orders, "We've got to shut the operation down, neutralize whoever's doing this and identify the alien meat. Tosh, you can coordinate. If you need any help than get Kayla."

There was a low buzz from Gwen's area that made everyone looked at her, only for her to be looking down at something in her lap. After a few seconds, she looked up with a frown on her face, "I have to slip home and check on Rhys first."

"Good idea," Jack agreed, "Find out how much he knows."

Gwen glared at him hotly, "That's not what I meant." She snapped.

* * *

About thirty minutes later, Jack sent Kayla, Owen, and Ianto to scope out the warehouse. He would wait for Gwen and drive up with her once she was back from seeing Rhys. Jack had given Kayla a hard, warning-filled look before she had left as he reminded everyone that they were  _not_ to engage at the warehouse.

With Kayla so occupied with her thoughts on UNIT and how to tell Jack about visiting Martha for a while, she hadn't even argued against him. Instead, she had just nodded along with Owen and Ianto. They exited soon after, which meant that Kayla didn't see the way Jack frowned at her in confusion.

The roads, at the hour they were driving on, were deserted the entire way once they were outside of Cardiff. Owen was driving with Ianto in the passenger seat giving directions. Kayla, still lost in her thoughts, was in the middle row. To her, it seemed like only a few seconds had passed before Ianto had said crisply, "We're here."

Peering between the two seats in the front, Kayla eyed the warehouse that they could see vaguely through the trees, "They'll have people watching the entrances," she pointed out, "Especially if they've heard about the accident."

She could practically hear Owen roll his eyes at her,  _"Thanks,"_ he said snidely, "As we  _already_ discussed, Ianto found a deserted access road a few meters back. They weren't watching there."

Leaning back, Kayla didn't comment as Ianto directed Owen to the access road. After a few seconds, they parked the car and got out, eyeing the warehouse from their small spot. It seemed deserted enough that they risked going up to it, circling all the doors and taking in their locks, padlocks to be specific, and alarms blatantly attached and armed.

With nothing left to do, they continued to circle the warehouse as they waited and waited…and waited…and waited until Jack contacted through the comms.,  _"Ianto, Owen, Kayla, we're on our way. How are things looking at the slaughterhouse? Are you in position?"_

"Yes, it's all quiet here. There's a deserted access road to the side. We won't get noticed. I'll direct you in," Ianto reported crisply.

After about another ten to twenty minutes waiting, Jack replied back,  _"Ianto, nearly there."_

"Take the second turning. Park on the left. No one will see the car there. There's a main entrance at the front. It's the only one open. The rest are padlocked and alarmed," Ianto reported in a whisper.

" _How many are in there?"_

"Have to be more than us," Kayla replied with such a certainty in her voice that neither Owen or Ianto argued or pointed out that there were no windows for her to be sure of this vague number.

" _I've got blueprints of the warehouse. The stock has to be in the central area,"_ Tosh relayed. She paused and then added,  _"Having fun?"_

"You don't know what you're missing," Ianto grumbled back.

Eyeing the handheld sensor that Tosh had shoved into his hand, Owen glanced at the warehouse skeptically, "According to the sensor, there's a heat signature across the entire building."

" _That's a lot of meat,"_  Gwen commented.

" _You three take the sides, Gwen and I will go in the front,"_ Jack ordered,  _"We don't want any casualties. We stun gun whoever's in there and put a stop to what they're doing."_

Already in their ordered location, it didn't take long for Kayla, Owen, and Ianto to come upon one o doors with just an alarm armed and activated outside of it.

"Did you bring the alarm de-activator?" Ianto asked Owen.

Rolling his eyes at the question, Owen started to raise his gun, but Kayla stopped him by placing a hand on his arm. Glaring at her and shaking it off, Owen still didn't shoot; not because he was going to follow orders from  _Kayla,_ but because Kayla was rapidly typing something on her Vortex Manipulator.

There was a sudden cheerful beep from the alarm, and Owen watched as Kayla smirked widely as it turned green.

"Well, that's one way of doing it," Ianto commented dryly.

Kayla's smirk just grew at this as she closed her Vortex Manipulator and prodded the alarm casually, "It's primitive," she said with a shrug, "Which is very good for us. Means that they probably don't have alien partners."

"That's actually a top-of-the-line alarm. Most people can't even buy one," Ianto corrected with a frown.

"It's  _primitive,"_ Kayla repeated.

The argument probably would have gone on the same fashion, with Ianto refuting Kayla and Kayla just repeating her belief had Jack's voice, frantic and sharp, not come over all the comms.,  _"Ianto, Owen, Kayla, stand down. Repeat, stand down."_

Freezing at the order, the trio looked at each other. Jack had sounded more than unphased; he had sounded panicked. If there had been someone capturing him then he wouldn't have called their names, so what had he and Gwen seen that had made him panic?

The confusion for the trio, namely Owen and Ianto, only grew when about ten minutes later, Kayla suddenly turned towards the door and stared at it, her eyes wide with a child-like confusion.

"What?" Owen snapped, and when she didn't reply he repeated the question, much sharper this time.

"It's-It's nothing," Kayla said with a quick shake of her head.

But whatever 'nothing,' was, it didn't stop her from placing a hand on the door and whispering something, too soft and too different for the other two to make out when they were called back by Jack and, through growled threats from Gwen, found out that Rhys had been there at the warehouse and was in on whatever was happening.

* * *

As soon as they had gotten back to the Hub, Gwen left to confront her fiancé, leaving the others with little to do but wait until Jack came out of the office, a troubled expression on his face, "Gwen is bringing Rhys over."

"He knows?" Tosh gasped.

Giving her a cold nod, Jack turned on his heel and left, closing the door behind him with more force than required. Everyone watched him, their eyes all wide. No one spoke what they were all thinking: Someone was unhappy.

It surprised everyone when Ianto, who normally hid himself away when Jack was frustrated about another person, instead sat down on the couch in the Hub. Tosh quickly joined him, and after a moment so did Kayla. Even Owen, more grudging than Kayla was, joined them in a pulled up chair. They all sat there, just…just thinking.

"Well, this is unprecedented," Ianto noted, the first to break the silence that had settled, "The fiancé finding out."

Tosh giggled, but it was bitter, "Mainly because we're all sad and single."

"Speak for yourself. I am better off without all that kind of hassle," Owen dismissed, not noticing Tosh's face falling.

"I'm married," Kayla added in suddenly, "Though it's far from happy," she finished with a mutter and a glance down.

Wisely, no one questioned her on what  _that_ comment meant. Instead, an awkward silence fell between the foursome until Tosh nudged Owen, "Maybe the answer is to go out with someone who knows what you do."

"Look around you, Tosh," Owen said dryly, "Only we know what we do."

Once again, Tosh's face fell, and this time, the awkward silence that fell after her comment was not lifted.

* * *

**I really enjoyed this chapter; Meat is a really cool episode, and though I did change something for my version, props to those who guess what I changed, I still think the original episode is pretty good.**


	11. Meat Pt. 2

When Rhys finally appeared, taken through the visitor entrance, Kayla realized she was going to dislike this human. It wasn't because he was human, and it wasn't because he was normal either. No, it was because he was skeptical. Fucking skeptical about everything going on in front of him.

"Oh! That looked so real," he gasped when the very real pterodactyl flew overhead with a cry at the noise the guest entrance made.

"It was real," Gwen corrected with a giggle that Kayla did not share.

Rhys turned to her, a  _concerned_ frown on his face, "They're extinct, Gwen," he pronounced.

"Well it's there," Kayla cut in before Gwen could reply, "Very nice creature," she added, the full implication there that  _Rhys_ was not a nice creature in comparison.

Gwen pulled a face while Rhys blinked at Kayla – stupidly blinked, really – and pointed up at the empty ceiling,  _"That's_ real? But it can't be!"

"It is, though," Kayla corrected lazily.

"It's from a different timeline," Jack added as he too joined the conversation. When Rhys looked at him with confused awe, Jack introduced himself, "Captain Jack Harkness. And the lovely woman next to me is Kayla. Thanks for dropping in, Rhys."

Giving  _both_ of them a frustrated look, Gwen waved over at the other team members, who weren't even hiding that they were watching the exchange taking place, "This is the rest of the team. Owen and Toshiko. Ianto."

As each of their names were call, the group waved, smiled, or just curtly nodded in Rhys' direction. Despite this relatively cold response, Rhys still smiled at the group, "Pleased to meet you."

"Welcome to our headquarters," Jack finished with that grin that Kayla knew he only did when he  _really_ did not like the person in front of him but was trying to be polite.

Rhys chuckled, not picking up on the animosity between him and Jack, "It's a bit bigger than mine," he tried to joke, but no one laughed. Nevertheless, he continued on, "So, Gwen tells me you catch aliens."

"That's the basic premise," Kayla agreed with a slight sneer that she quickly hid when Jack looked over at her.

"There's a Rift through space and time runs through Cardiff, Rhys, and stuff slips in from other timelines and planets, and it's our job to monitor it," Owen explained.

Rhys eyed the group skeptically, "Are you sure they're not some kind of weird cult," he hissed to Gwen, and that one comment made Kayla struggle very, very hard to school her face as if she had not heard it since a normal human would  _not_ have been able to hear it in the first place.

"You saw that alien in the warehouse," Gwen reminded him, "Go on," she pressed when Rhys still hesitated on speaking about the mysterious alien he had seen.

"What did you see?" Jack questioned, a slight command in his voice.

Rhys swallowed hard, "It was like this huge, shapeless beast, filling the space. Like a mound of flesh," he explained haltingly, his voice wavering and cracking as he spoke.

"So it's one massive entity as opposed to several organisms," Tosh said slowly, earning a sharp nod from Rhys.

"The latest tests reveal high levels of chloride, so it probably lives in the water. I reckon it came through the Rift, into the sea and its beached itself," Owen commented.

"Like a giant alien manatee," Jack suggested with a frown.

"Or a space whale," Kayla added, making the other stare at her, "It's what it sounds like. A whale that happens to live in space. They went extinct long ago, though. And they're harmless. No one, not even  _humans_ would ever be so cruel as to use it for  _meat."_

By the time she was done, she was breathing rather hard at the mere  _idea_ of a space whale being used for meat, and everyone was eyeing her with concern, or in the case of Rhys, fear. For a moment, there was a hesitant silence, and then, "But how did they get it there? That warehouse must be fifty metres long," Ianto pointed out.

Rhys frowned at the question, "Maybe it was smaller when they found it, because they said it's growing."

"It's not dead?" Jack immediately asked, not pausing as Tosh made a soft gasping noise.

Rhys shook his head, his face going pale at the memory, "No, it's breathing. Its eye opened."

"They're using a fucking living animal for  _meat?"_ Rhys nodded at Kayla's outraged question, "How…how…how  _human,"_ she finally spat, making the word sound like a curse.

She was even more horrified when the others didn't seem to share her anger. Owen merely commented on how it was mutating to create more meat for them, literally giving them a never-ending supply, but then Tosh  _eagerly_ pointed out that, "It could last them for years, then. If we understood how it worked, we could feed the world."

And even Ianto joined in, though he stopped himself short from offering this alien creature as a single source of meat at the scathing look Kayla sent him.

When Jack started to speak, even he paused as Kayla whipped her head to him, her eyebrow raising in a silent dare for him to say something positive about the situation, "Before we get ahead of ourselves," he said a bit weakly, "we're talking about dodgy pies in Merthyr, okay?" When Kayla opened her eyes to express outrage, he quickly added, "And the fact that they're cutting it up alive, which," he paused to turn and give Rhys a glare of his own, "we could have put a stop to already if it wasn't for you."

Rhys seemed to try and puff up against the frustrated accusation from Jack, but the action just made him look very, very stupid to Kayla, something that was  _not_ helping her low opinion of the man. The following protest of, "I thought my fiancée was in danger," didn't help much either.

"Well she wasn't. And now there's an alien creature being tortured by the worse monster I've ever been around," Kayla pronounced, giving Rhys a glare, "And don't you dare try to defend yourself because  _you're_ wrapped up in it."

"Kayla," Gwen hissed. Usually Kayla would have snapped something at her, but Jack spoke up before she could.

"All you did tonight was mess things up. Now we have to think of a way to get back in and, thanks to you, they'll have tightened security," he snapped at Rhys.

Rhys glared at the two in front of him, "Well, if you stopped and asked me what I saw in there, instead of showing off around the place and accusing me –"

"Do I show off?" Jack cut in, glancing at Ianto with a half smirk.

Ianto's lips twitched in a slight smile as he answered ruefully, "Just a bit."

"You'd know I got out by telling them I wanted a job as a delivery boy. So rather than cock things up, I've found you a way to get in. But if you can't handle that, big boy, then you can stuff it."

Without even pausing, Jack shot back, "This is quite homoerotic."

_That,_ of all the comments said so far, made Gwen reach her breaking point, "No, no, no, no, no," she snapped hurriedly, "Jack, he is not getting us in."

Jack just turned on his heal, "Team meeting," he paused and then pointed at Rhys, "You too."

"Jack," Gwen protested even as she followed him to the conference room.

The meeting in the conference room was…awkward, to say the least. Ianto, Owen, Tosh, and Kayla watched in silence as Gwen stood by, her arms crossed, while Rhys explained the blueprints of the building that Tosh had hastily placed on the screen. Jack was the only one who  _didn't_ seem uncomfortable in anyway, but that was likely because the emotion he was conveying was frustration at Gwen's anger.

Despite these conflicting emotions, Rhys still went on with the explanation of the warehouse, though his eyes kept flickering between Jack and Gwen, waiting, just like everyone else, for  _one_ of them exploding, "That's where the thing is," Rhys said, indicating the large middle section of the warehouse, "That's the sedatives room. That's where they hang and pack all the meat," he continued in a similar fashion, waving at the different spots on the blueprints.

"That's good to know," Owen said shakily when a pregnant silence fell after Rhys was done.

Gwen nodded sharply, "Yeah, that is good to know," she agreed grudgingly, "But he's  _not_ driving us in," she finished with a glare directed at Jack.

"They're expecting me," Rhys protested in a low voice. As if they were at a tennis match, the team's heads whipped from Gwen to Rhys. Even Kayla went along with this motion, though that was mainly because the situation was saving her from thinking about how to ask Jack about her going to UNIT for a bit; perhaps, even, a long bit.

Perhaps, even, until she decided – because she  _was_ going to go back! – to rejoin the Doctor.

Shaking her head jerkily, Kayla zeroed back in the conversation, which had become an outright argument during her time spent thinking, "Oh, where was I when you to decided to get involved? Did you give me a thought?" Rhys snapped at Gwen.

"Oh joy, a domestic," Owen groaned, a thought Kayla shared with him.

"Rhys is right," Jack declared, "He's our best way in," as if that settled the conversation, he turned to the rest of the team, "Stun guns only," he ordered.

Owen made a face, "We've handled bigger than this. Why don't we just storm in, guns in the air, and arrest them?"

"We could hurt the alien," Kayla pointed out with a shake of her head, "Plus, they'll probably just kill the alien and run if we go in with our guns," she paused to give him a deeply unimpressed look, "blazing."

"I wasn't suggesting blazing, just waving," Owen grumbled.

"The last thing we need is a bloodbath," Jack said with a nod towards Kayla.

Owen just huffed, "Point taken," he agreed sullenly.

"Once Rhys has loaded up, he can clear," Jack explained, "You don't have to come. You can stand down," he added to Gwen, though it sounded less like an offer and more like a command.

"It might be better," Tosh agreed, only to shy away at the affronted glare Gwen sent her.

"You love him," Jack pressed, "Makes you vulnerable."

"He's not going in there without me," Gwen shot back firmly.

Kayla was surprised when Jack accepted this, going as far as to step back as if to signal that he was going to let Gwen do what she wanted on this mission despite her actions potentially putting them all in danger. But then, after Gwen replied to his statement that it  _was_ her decision, Jack added in a cold voice, "You both have to live by it."

Gwen faltered at this, which made the ever-watching Rhys huff in frustration, "Oh come on," he protested, "You and me, a team."

Gwen whirled to face him, "Damn it, Rhys! This is for real. Do you understand that? This is for real. And if you mess up, I will kill you."

Her frustrated shriek still echoing in the room, it took a moment for everyone to recover. It was Tosh who spoke first, her eyes anxiously flicking to Gwen throughout her question to Jack, "So, after we've stun-gunned the workers, we put the creature out of its misery?"

"No," Jack said firmly before Kayla could say something, "We're gonna save it. Stabilize it, wait for the Rift to open and send it back."

"It's your responsibility," Kayla agreed with a nod, "Your spe – that's what Torchwood is for."

Thankfully, no one seemed to notice the near slip she had. It would mean too many questions for her to answer if she started describe humans as  _their_ species since that excluded her from the human race. Tosh did, however, pull a face at Kayla's agreement, "Tell me exactly how are we going to use it to arm ourselves against the future?"

"We can always hide behind it," Owen suggested snidely.

"Just because it's alien doesn't mean it's not as worthy to be saved as  _you_ are," Kayla snapped, "It landed on  _your_ planet because of  _your_ Rift, so  _you_ have to fix it."

"You didn't hear it's cry," Rhys added in, "Heartbreaking."

Shaking his head, Owen looked at Jack with a rare serious expression, "Jack, it's growing."

"Well, we'll find a way to stop it mutating. We are doing this. That's an order."

"Fine," Owen huffed.

"I'll stock up on plankton," Ianto said blithely.

With the conference over, no one wanted to linger in the room with the two angry couple and Jack. Ianto, Owen, Tosh, and even Kayla practically ran from the room, leaving the trio of awkwardness behind.

* * *

The wait time until it was Rhys' shift for driving was horribly awkward. By the time Rhys got the lorry and had it parked and ready, Kayla was almost grateful to get into the back of it along with the rest of the team. Sure, it smelled horrible, was dark, and was very uncomfortable, but at least she didn't have to see Gwen increasing the amount of romance with Rhys to make Jack feel jealous. That hadn't worked, of course, because Jack had never understood why he should be jealous when everyone could just share in their relationships, but it still had been terribly awkward.

Thankfully, though, Gwen had abandoned this scheme once they were in the back of the lorry. She was nearly completely silent and still as Rhys drove through the morning traffic.

"I'll prepare an antidote of ketamine so we can start weaning it off," Owen muttered as he started to work out of the medical kit he had brought.

Jack nodded once, "Gwen, Tosh, Kayla, and I will take the main area. Owen, Ianto, cover the corridors and the small rooms. You okay?"

Gwen gave him a sharp look that was penetrating even with their surroundings shrouded in darkness, "What do you think?"

"He'll be fine," Owen assured, "He's a good bloke."

Despite what Owen had said, the rest of the ride passed in uneasy silence until, when Rhys parked, Jack commanded, "Let's go."

Everyone slipped out of the back of the lorry, spreading out and going to their positions as quickly as they could. Kayla got a brief look at Owen and Ianto heading off before she, Jack, Gwen, and Tosh went the opposite direction to the main part of the warehouse. Within a few moments, they were there, staring up at the poor, poor creature the men had been torturing.

"It can't be," Kayla whispered, her eyes filling with tears as she and the others looked at the animal, "They're supposed to be extinct," she forcibly moved her gaze to look at Jack, her horror matched on his face, "How did a  _space whale_ fall through the Rift?"

Jack didn't have time to answer because a worker returned. All the group could do was watch in horror as the space whale cried out when the worker cut into it, removing huge chunks of meat from it while it helplessly screamed in pain. By the time Jack was able stun the man, his wheelbarrow full of the meat, they all had tear marks glistening on their cheeks, though none of them mentioned it as they walked towards the poor, poor animal.

"Imprisoned, chained and drugged. Welcome to planet Earth," Jack growled as he stared up at the face of the distressed animal.

It was horrifying when the whale managed to turn its head enough to stare Jack. Only Tosh was able say something, and even then her voice shook horribly, "It heard you. It's sentient."

"Jack," Gwen gasped out as they finally reached the  _hole_ in the whale's side where it had been cut into it, "Oh, that's disgusting."

"How…how could  _anyone_ do this?" Kayla gasped; only Jack picked up on the unspoken question about how  _the Doctor's_ chosen race could do this.

Jack was unable to answer, so instead he too asked a question, "What have they done to you? What have they done to you, my poor friend?"

All they could do was stare. They had no pain medication to give to it, though Kayla was slowly coming to the realization that there was no way they could heal the whale. Not with it in such horrible conditions.

Time Lords had the ability to understand creatures in a way most couldn't. The Doctor had explained it to her before, but Kayla had never understood what he meant. Until now. She could hear the space whale's cries with such horrible, horrible clarity. It was why she knew – no, was certain – that the space whale  _didn't_ want to live anymore, and when Kayla looked at the poor animal, she understood why. Who would want to live in a universe that had harmed you so?

" _Everyone, they're armed,"_ Owen warned suddenly over the comms.

Gwen instantly turned, her eyes going to the nearest exit, "Rhys."

Jack placed a hand on her shoulder, keeping Gwen there, "Gwen, stay here."

Grudgingly, the Welshwoman did as she was ordered to and stayed with the group, but after a few minutes of tense waiting, she pressed her comms. on, "Ianto, did Rhys get away?"

" _I'll check now,"_ Ianto promised promptly.

There was a very small pause, and then a different voice, his tone deadly serious, came over,  _"They've got Rhys and Ianto,"_ Owen whispered.

Jack didn't hold Gwen back as she sprinted over to the door, but he did hurry after her, leaving Tosh and Kayla to do the same.

"Gwen. Gwen, no. Listen. Hey. It will be okay," Jack assured. Somehow, he was able to get to the door before Gwen and he tried to open it, only for it to remain firmly shut, "Locked," he pronounced.

Gwen barely had time to hiss, "They must know we're here," before the group was hiding away as one of the doors opened and a ruffled Ianto and Rhys were brought into the room, both held at gunpoint.

Both men automatically stepped back at the sight of the whale, and the man holding the gun at them just chuckled at their reaction, "What is it?" Ianto asked hoarsely.

"The lads call it the Cash Cow," the man holding the gun declared.

Another man, smaller and with a more innocent face, joined the gun-holding man, "Dale, what are you doing here?"

"They couldn't bear to see us making money, Vic," Dale replied. He pushed Rhys and Ianto, making them stumble, "Fancied some for yourselves, eh? Thought we'd be a pushover?"

Rhys gave Dale a snide look that had Gwen hissing under her breath at him, "Mate, you're so out of your depth."

Not at all impressed, Dale just smirked at Rhys coolly, "Funny, I was just thinking the same about you."

"Dale," Vic said in a hesitant warning, "don't be an idiot."

Shaking his head at the other man, Dale clicked the safety off as he pointed his gun at Rhys' head, "Show yourselves or I shoot the delivery boy."

With no hesitation, Gwen removed herself from hiding with her hands high in the air, "Okay! There's no need to make any threats."

Dale's gun didn't move from Rhys as he eyed Gwen, "It's just the two of you, is it?" When Gwen made no move to correct him, he motioned with his free hand to her waist, "Gun down. Kick it over.

"I don't have a gun," Gwen tried, only to get a scoff from Dale.

"He had one, so  _you_ must have one," glancing at her fiancé, Gwen quickly removed her gun and kicked it over, but Dale wasn't done with her yet, "Any more of you? And before you answer, have a proper think, because if you lie, I will shoot you."

"There's just me," Gwen promised.

For a tense moment, it seemed like Dale had caught the lie, but instead he motioned to the drum and sharply ordered Gwen to get against it. She wordlessly complied, staying against it without moving, "We can help you out, Dale," she offered after a moment of silence.

"Yeah," Dale scoffed, "help yourselves more like," done with her for now, he motioned at Rhys and Ianto, "Come on, stand next to her. You, too."

The position Tosh, Jack, and Kayla were in was not good, but as long as they weren't spotted they still had a chance - "Dale! Three more. Far corner. They can't get out. It's locked," a third man the trio hadn't seen called out.

Moving out of their hiding space, the trio stared down Dale, whose gun was pointing once more, "Take out your weapons, stand where I can see you. Drop your weapons."

None of them complied.

"Do you know what that animal is, Dale?" Kayla asked, a hard note in her voice that unnerved the man.

"Shut up, now," he ordered, though his voice shook.

Kayla didn't, "That's a space whale. And it's likely the last space whale around. Do you know what a space whale is?"

"It's an alien. A creature from another galaxy. It came through a Rift in time and space, and it was unlucky enough to find you," Jack answered for him smoothly.

Dale's mouth dropped open, "No," he protested, "No way."

"Did you really think it originated on this planet? Have you ever seen anything like it before?" Rhys pointed out.

Vic stared up at the creature, his mouth in a 'O,' "It can't be. Can it?" He asked in a small voice.

"Look at that creature," Kayla pressed, "Look at that beautiful, ancient creature."

"It's just meat," Dale snapped with a shake of his head, "that's  _all."_

"It's a sentient animal you are carving up while it's  _alive._ You  _have_ to stop."

Dale glared at Kayla, "And then what have I got? I'm making money here. This is my business. For the first time in my life, I've actually got something for myself."

"Dale, stop. You can still walk away from this," Gwen promised.

But Dale was fixated in his position, which is why he turned, accused her of lying to him, and then  _shot._ Kayla, Jack, Tosh, Gwen, and Ianto cried out in horror as Rhys fell to the floor, bleeding from the bullet he had taken for his fiancée.

Suddenly, there was chaos. Ianto, his hands free from the ties he had been put in, grabbed Dale's gun, forcing him to shoot at the ceiling. The space whale, terrified from the noise, started to thrash heavily in its bonds, succeeding in the ropes ripping loudly, and in a surprising show of wisdom, Dale broke away from Ianto and ran along with the other two men.

"Ianto. Go after them," Jack ordered. Not waiting to see the Welshman run off, Jack tapped his comms., "Rhys has been shot. The creature's coming loose. We need that sedative now."

Gwen knelt down next to Rhys and took his head in her hands, looking down at him with tears streaming down her face, "Open your eyes. Come on, you can do this. Open your eyes now, okay?"

"Owen, we need you. We're trapped. The creature's breaking free. If we try and get past, we'll be crushed," Jack pressed, his voice holding a frantic quality to it that Kayla had heard only a few times.

They did all they could do as they waited for Owen. Tosh tried to place pressure on the wounds while Kayla and Jack hung back and tried desperately to speak to the whale. But whether it was pain or the fear, they did not know, but  _something_ was stopping the whale from understanding them the way it had just a few minutes earlier.

By the time Owen arrived with a shout of, "Bloody hell!" Kayla knew there was nothing she could do. It was why she didn't do anything as Owen started to inject the poor animal with a dose of sedative that seemed  _too_ large, even for its size, to do anything but kill.

"Owen, you're making it worse," Jack snapped as the animal started to thrash even harder, but the second dose Owen injected into it made it slowly, slowly start to calm down.

"What did you do?" Kayla asked, though she already knew the answer. Even as Owen confirmed her suspicion, Kayla turned away to stare up at the eye of the space whale as it started to sing a mournful song.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, watching as the whale calmed down into a drug-induced state of peace. Everyone else was focused on Rhys and helping him, which meant no one saw Kayla place a hand on the whale her eyes closing. No one else saw the space whale die.

* * *

No one felt like celebrating when Rhys emerged from the autopsy room after Owen had cleaned him up. Tosh was blankly staring at her computer screen, Ianto was standing hesitantly by her, Jack had withdrawn to his office, and Kayla was sitting on the couch in complete silence.

Gwen was the only one who managed a smile when Rhys came out with Owen, but that smile was short lived because only a few seconds later, she was called into Jack's office. Everyone, except Rhys, knew what would happen next: Gwen would be ordered to give Rhys Retcon. If she didn't then they would  _both_ be Retconned.

It came as no surprise to Kayla when none of those things happened. Sure, Gwen seemed like she was going to comply, but then she came back screeching that  _none_ of them understood and she wouldn't do it and Jack…Jack had all but confirmed that she was correct in her assumption that she didn't have to do it. He snapped at her to go home and that he would see her tomorrow, and like a short summer storm, Gwen left the Hub in an eerie silence.

* * *

That night, once everyone had gone home, Kayla paused as she made to leave the Hub. She could hear a soft noise that drew her into Jack's office. He was bent over his desk with his shoulders shaking. If it had been any other day, Kayla would have left him at it. In fact, she did start to turn, but some noise from her made Jack look up from his desk.

"Ky," he murmured in a low voice.

That was all it took for the tears Kayla had been saving for her roof and her stars to roll down her cheeks as well. Hesitantly, she approached Jack, pausing as she waited for him to send her away. But he didn't. Instead, he stood up and opened his arms. In a juxtaposition to her approach, Kayla practically leapt into the awaiting hug.

"I'm so sorry," Kayla said, though she didn't know  _what_ she was apologizing for, "I'm so sorry, Dad."

In answer, Jack just squeezed her tighter.

UNIT, Kayla decided, could wait for tomorrow.


	12. Interlude 4

Jack was aware of the Earth saying, 'hindsight is 20/20.' Never mind that was  _not_ perfect vision, and never mind that the saying was a way to excuse blatant mistakes; Jack had heard the saying and lately, he felt like he was living that saying out.

The only problem was he didn't know  _when_ this feeling had come onto him. It was one of those feelings when it felt like it had been there all the time, and when you looked back to try and figure out when the feeling started, you realized the feeling had been there all the time.

"Did Kayla seem…off to you?" Jack asked Ianto.

Ianto glanced around Jack's office, which was in a state of disarray thanks to Kayla's less than organized packing, "A bit," he admitted.

Jack sighed and looked at one of the shirts that was lying on the ground. He walked over to it and picked it up, holding the cloth in his hands for a moment before he threw it over to one of the empty chairs, "I shouldn't have let her go."

Ianto walked over to him and placed a hand on Jack's shoulder, "She would have left no matter what," he said firmly.

Jack leaned into him for moment, his eyes closing, "You're right," he said after a beat of silence. Slowly, he pulled away and picked up another piece of clothing, "Of course, you're right."

It went unspoken that Jack hoped Kayla would enjoy UNIT more than she had enjoyed Torchwood.

* * *

_An hour earlier_

Kayla was surprised Jack had taken her ask to leave so well. He had eyed her over the reading glasses he only wore when the rest of Torchwood, except for herself and Ianto, had left for the day. Kayla had never asked  _why_ Jack didn't wear the glasses around the others, but as she took them in she couldn't help but notice how they aged him.

"Are you sure?" Kayla jerked at the question, "Are you sure this is the right thing for you to do?"

"Of course, I'm sure."

Jack frowned, "There are a lot of reminders there," he said slowly, "Didn't he-"

"He worked there for a bit, yes," Kayla cut off, "But Martha already assured me no one will ask me questions about him."

There was a beat of silence as Jack stared down at the paperwork, official ones from UNIT for an employee transfer, that Kayla had placed on his desk. He scanned it again, pausing at one of the lines to tap it with his finger, "What do you need the money for? You're not getting any here."

"I'm getting paid here," Kayla corrected, "Ianto set up an average payroll and helped me set up a bank account my first week here," when Jack frowned heavily at this, Kayla pulled a face of her own, "It's just money, Jack. It's not like I'm buying drugs with it."

Jack leaned forwards, and for a horrible moment Kayla thought he had seen through the blatant lie, but then, "I know you aren't buying drugs with it," Jack assured, "You wouldn't have started that habit again without me noticing."

Kayla didn't allow herself to breath a sigh of relief, because while Jack  _wasn't_ noticing any of her nighttime activities, he would notice an action happening right in front of him.

Instead, she gave Jack a slight smile, "Torchwood has been great," she lied again, "but I really need a break for a bit."

"How long is "a bit?""

Kayla huffed and crossed her arms, "It'll likely be a  _long_ bit, Jack," she looked down at her jeans and picked at one of the threads that had poked up, "I don't know how long it will be."

They fell into silence once again as Jack contemplated what Kayla had brought to him and had asked of him. He grabbed a pen from his mug and rescanned the paper, but he didn't sign. Not yet. He had one more question to ask first.

"Does he know?"

"I haven't told him," Kayla admitted in a soft voice, "He got a new companion and I haven't wanted to bother him lately."

"What do I do if he calls?"

"He  _won't_ call," Kayla practically snapped. When Jack kept silent, waiting for her to continue, she sighed heavily, "I told him not to call because I didn't want to have to explain him to the others."

For a long moment, Jack eyed his daughter. He had leaned back in his chair when he had asked his last question, intent on waiting for Kayla to answer, but now that she had, he still didn't feel like he could sign this transfer.

"I really need this, Jack." At the break in her voice, Jack couldn't help but wince in empathetic pain. How many times had he run because he couldn't deal with his surroundings anymore? Kayla was already doing better than he ever had by informing someone else of her intent to leave.

Clicking his pen, he signed the transfer with his usual flourish, an action that made Kayla beam at him, "When do you need to leave?"

"In ten minutes," Kayla answered.

Cursing, Jack got up from his desk and helped Kayla pack, leaving his office in a horrible way. He promised himself he would clean up later, because first he had to walk Kayla out of the Hub and watch as she climbed into a black UNIT SUV, outfited, like every car, with ATMOS. Once she was out of sight, Jack turned and walked back into the Hub, finding a freshly arrived Ianto and a cup of his amazing coffee.

At least, Jack thought that night with a sleeping Ianto cuddled against him, Kayla was finding some happiness somewhere. That's what parents want for their kids, right? For them to be happy?

Jack hoped his daughter would be happy at UNIT.

* * *

**Still in the middle/leading-up section to the book, but we're really close to what I'm calling the climax, which is the next few chapters! As you can see, I've edited the sequence of events, so Martha first sees the Doctor and then she goes to UNIT. This is mainly because I couldn't see any way Adam could happen because he would come in and Kayla would curbstomp him and that would be the episode.**

**So...Kayla's going to UNIT right when there's ATMOS in every car...I wonder who's going to show up? Are we going to see a reunion soon?**


	13. The Sontaran Stratagem Pt. 1

Kayla's time at UNIT had been different from Torchwood. For one, everyone knew exactly who she was, which had gotten frustrating after the sixteenth employee had tripped over themselves in the effort to not mention the Doctor. Everyone else, after she had snapped at the sixteenth employee to the point they had started to cry, had decided to stay away from her. Except for Martha, of course.

UNIT was the perfect escape from Torchwood though, because they couldn't have been more different. At UNIT, Kayla was given her space while at Torchwood, she had to deal with the team always looking over each other shoulders. UNIT always had small, folksy missions to do while Torchwood dealt with the darker, gritter sides of humanity and aliens.

Martha had been generous enough to let her stay with her in her cramped flat, and even though Kayla slept on the couch, she was more than happy with the living situations. Martha was a very nice hostess and had not questioned her too extensively after their first night together. She was even okay with Kayla coming in at odd hours into the night.

The one of two downsides, at least at first, Kayla had had to go over to Martha's family's house for dinner, a tradition they had started ever since the…event, but that too had become something Kayla was able to put up with, and, grudgingly, enjoy.

The second downside was that Kayla had been forced to give up all drinking and drugs because Martha noticed the second night when she came in less than sober. Martha hadn't said much, just asked how long this habit had been going on. When Kayla had shied away from the question, Martha had crossed her arms and had snapped, "You don't have to answer, but I refuse to let you continue with this."

Besides those downsides, Kayla could call her time at UNIT idyllic. Of course, with the luck she had gotten in the universe, it only made sense this life had to come crashing down. Late into the previous night, when Kayla had been the only one at UNIT HQ, she had happened to notice the light on the answering machine beeping. Of course, she had picked it up and had jotted down the notes that the woman, Jo Nakashima, had left for Col. Mace. Kayla had no idea what ATMOS was, or how it was killing people, but she still dutifully passed the information onto Mace before she had left for the night.

All had seemed well, but that morning when Kayla and Martha had come in for work, a frantic intern had run up to them and hurriedly explained that they were going to look for aliens at the ATMOS factory because the call the other night had finally given them enough to investigate on since the woman, Jo, was dead.

Kayla wished she could explain her lack of emotions on lack of time, but she knew that wasn't the case. She just…didn't really care that a woman named Jo had died; she had never met her, never spoken, and didn't have a face to give her. It wasn't even that she had an emotion and was just blithe to it. Kayla was completely apathetic over Jo's death, and that bothered her.

It continued to bother her on the ride to the factory, but it was pushed to the back of her mind by a more pressing problem: Martha wanted to call the Doctor.

"There's just something off about this," Martha argued in the ride to the ATMOS factory, "ATMOS is in all the cars in Britain."

"It seems to be helpful," Kayla pointed out as the ATMOS installed in the UNIT car they were in instructed them to turn to the left.

"So was Archangel," Martha grumbled darkly even as she followed the direction, "Why are you so against seeing him? I thought being Bonded was like being married."

"It is," Kayla admitted, her gaze firmly on the outside world, "But we haven't really talked much."

Martha sighed heavily, "Col. Mace wants me to call him in, you know?"

"I know."

"And Mace is my boss so…you understand, right?"

"Yeah," Kayla plastered a smile on her face as she turned her head to look at her friend, "It's an order and relationship awkwardness doesn't supersede that. I'm-I'm sure it'll be fine."

The lie was worth it for the relived smile Martha gave her for the reassurance.

* * *

When they arrived at the ATMOS factory, Martha sprinted off to find Col. Mace to tell him that the Doctor would be coming while Kayla stood awkwardly in an alleyway Martha had deemed acceptable for the Doctor to land in.

"You don't have to be here when he comes," Martha offered as soon as she had returned to the alleyway.

"Yes, I do," Kayla huffed. When Martha gave her a look, the Time Lady shrugged, "You're just offering to be polite and I'm  _not_ in the mood," when Martha winced at her tone, Kayla sighed, "Please just get it over with."

"If that's how you feel," Martha muttered as she pulled out a black cell phone. Slowly, she typed in the number and then held it to her ear. Kayla could hear it ring and then, like tiny daggers of guilt to her heart, she could hear her Bonded's voice faintly. She turned away from Martha, her arms crossing like a protective shield around herself. She could still hear Martha speak, though, and it was clear she was grinning like mad, "Doctor-it's Martha...and I'm bringing you back to Earth."

Of course, the Doctor promised he would be there soon, but Kayla wasn't expecting him to actually arrive in a timeframe someone could described as soon. So when the TARDIS noise, so familiar and so very heartbreaking, started within five minutes of the call, Kayla jumped in shock and turned to look at the slowly materializing figure.

"I can't believe he came on time," Kayla muttered as the TARDIS materialized fully.

When Martha didn't reply, she looked over to see the woman beaming at the sight. She took a hesitant step forwards, only to stop herself when the door opened by itself and the Doctor, wearing a TARDIS blue suit and converse with an awkward expression, stepped out. For a moment, he stood there, his eyes briefly going to Martha but otherwise remaining firmly on Kayla.

Another figure, red haired and vaguely familiar, moved behind the Doctor. Her presence was enough to remind him to walk forward, so he stumbled towards the person who would be least awkward: Martha.

"Martha Jones," he greeted warmly.

"Doctor," Martha replied in kind, starting to approach him as well.

For a moment, the two just stared at each other, but then Martha threw out her arms and he picked up her up into a hug and swung her around before he dropped her down, "You haven't changed a bit!"

"Neither have you!" Martha chorused.

"How's the family?"

"You know," Martha shrugged, her face dropping a bit, "Not so bad. Recovering."

Nodding firmly, the Doctor finally turned back to Kayla, "I thought you were at Torchwood."

Kayla tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace, "I needed a vacation."

"How long have you been on vacation?"

"A few days."

The Doctor bobbed his head in a semblance of a nod, his hand going up and scratching the back of his neck, "Oh," he looked around at Martha to see if she was going to help, but when the woman just shrugged at him, he was forced to go with his second option, "I'm traveling with Donna again. Donna Noble, from the wedding? Remember?"

Not waiting for Kayla to reply, which was good because she didn't remember Donna Noble from the wedding, the Doctor grabbed his new companion, who squawked in ignored protest, and moved her front of Kayla, "Donna, Kayla. You've met but Kayla's…well, Kayla's different now."

"I regenerated," Kayla elaborated as she took in the vaguely familiar face in front of her, "We met when you were getting married,"

Donna pulled a face, "To  _Lance,"_ the sneer that pronounced that name was hopefully directed at the man himself at not at Kayla, "Didn't you have brown hair?"

Kayla jerkily nodded, "Regeneration makes you completely change."

"Is that why you're not traveling with him anymore? 'Cause you changed to not liking it?"

"No!" Kayla snapped in protest, well aware that the Doctor was  _not_ listening to Martha telling him about her new fiancé and was instead listening to her and Donna, "No, I just needed a break," she tried to smile again, "I'll be back on the TARDIS soon."

"Good," Donna replied, not at all put off by her half-shout, "Because  _this_ guy spends  _so_ much time moping around and doing  _nothing_. He's already too thin for words; you get a paper cut when you give him a hug!"

As Donna chuckled at her words, Kayla turned to eye the Doctor, who was standing between Donna and Martha like a human wall…a very thin, human wall, "He's not that thin," she said half-heartedly, "Not that that matters, of course."

While Donna rolled her eyes, Martha just gave Kayla an encouraging thumbs up from behind the Doctor, who turned to see what the motion was behind him, only for his former companion to smile at him blithely. Giving her a smile in return, the Doctor turned back to eye Donna, "You're not going to fight…right?"

Donna rolled her eyes once more, "Over  _you?"_ She scoffed, "You talk about her all the time; how could I fight her?"

"I dread to think," Martha said with a shake of her head as she moved out from behind the Doctor.

"No, no, no. He says nice things. Good things. Nice things. Really good things."

"Oh my god," Martha gaped in horror, "he's told you everything," while Donna tried to nod in a soothing way, Martha just pulled a very embarrassed face. Thankfully, Donna was able to tell when to move onto a different topic, "Who's the lucky man?"

"Tom Milligan," she paused briefly at the name, a slightly haunted look appearing in her eyes, but it was gone as soon as it had arrived, "He's in paediatrics working out in Africa right now. And yes, I know, I've got a doctor who disappears off to distant places - tell me about it."

Glancing over at the Doctor, Donna smirked, "Is he skinny?"

"No, he's sort of...strong," Martha answered, a smile starting to grow as she thought about her fiancé.

Donna smirk grew, "He is too skinny for words. You give him a hug, you get a paper cut," she pronounced, repeating her earlier complaint to Kayla.

While Martha chuckled, the Doctor winced at scratched at the back of his neck once more, "I'd rather you were fighting."

" _Dr. Jones and Kayla, report to base, please."_

Kayla winced at the command from the walkie-talkie Martha had on her; UNIT had…changed since the Doctor had met with them, and she doubted he would like how militarized it had become  _or_ how militarized Martha had become.  _She_ had no problem with it, and was happy as long as Martha was happy, but the Doctor always had a firm dislike of guns and people who held guns.

And he would be around a lot of guns soon.

Martha flashed her a grin that Kayla didn't return. Not deterred, Martha took out the walkie-talkie, "Speaking of which…," she muttered before she pressed the button so she could speak to the others, "This is Dr. Jones with Kayla. Operation Blue Sky is go, go, go," she turned, the Doctor and Donna forgotten, "I repeat, this is a go."

Kayla rushed ahead to join Martha, leaving Donna and the Doctor to trail behind them. She supposed the operation would be overwhelming for most, but Kayla had seen worse at the Time Agency. This was  _tiny_ compared to some operation she had headed. That didn't mean she didn't jump a bit, a tiny bit, when the large lorry rushed past them after some jeeps and soldiers.

"Unified Intelligence Taskforce, raise that barrier now!" One of the soldiers shouted, and the ATMOS factory workers, clearly confused, complied, allowing the multiple of lorries, jeeps, and soldiers to enter their grounds, "Leave your safeties on, lads, it's non-hostiles!"

One solider jumped to the ground and took out a bullhorn,  _"All workers lay down your tools and surrender!"_ He yelled through it.

Kayla and Martha, however, paid no attention to their surroundings. Martha easily handed off the walkie-talkie to the other woman, who immediately started with orders, "Greyhound Six to Trap One. B Section, go, go, go! Search the ground floor, grid pattern Delta."

"What are you searching for?" The Doctor asked, having only now caught up to them.

"Illegal aliens," Martha answered promptly.

" _This is a UNIT operation! All workers lay down your tools and surrender immediately!"_ Like how the solider had yelled it, the workers surrendered. They followed the directions from the soldiers around them and knelt on their knees, their hands over their head.

"B Section mobilized! E Section, F Section, on my command!" Martha yelled, running off to go and deal with the soldiers herself.

Kayla nearly followed her, but a glance back at the Doctor and Donna and their concerned faces told her that she should probably stay with them, which meant she overheard Donna hiss, "Is that what you did to Martha, turned her into a soldier?" She paused and then added, "And is that what regeneration does as well?"

The Time Lady wished that it didn't hurt so much when the Doctor didn't defend her. Only later would she note that he didn't agree with Donna either. That had to mean something, right?

* * *

After finishing ordering the troops around, Martha came back over the Doctor, Donna, and Kayla with the addition of her official UNIT name badge on full display. Kayla had one like Martha's, but it was back at UNIT. It really didn't do much, just had her first name and 'official officer at UNIT.'

As soon as Martha was in ear shot, the Doctor called over to her, "You're qualified now? You're a proper doctor."

Martha gave the Doctor a brief smile, "UNIT rushed it through, given my experience in the field," she explained. With a nod in the direction she wanted them to go, they started to walk towards a large lorry that Kayla recognized as the HQ for this operation, "Here we go. We're establishing a field base on site. They're dying to meet you."

Kayla didn't need to turn around to know that the Doctor was frowning at everything; she couldn't help but smile when she heard his grumbled response, confirming her belief, "Wish I could say the same."

They still entered the lorry, despite how grudgingly the Doctor and Donna did so. Everyone was busy setting up the computers, monitors, and communications that they traveled with, to the point that Martha actually had to go up to Col. Mace to inform him of the Doctor's presence, which was usually something that  _never_ went unnoticed if the reaction to Kayla's presence was anything to go by.

"Operation Blue Sky complete, sir. Thanks for letting me take the lead," Martha said. When Col. Mace gave her a sharp nod, Martha took the cue to turn half-way to point out the lingering Doctor, "And this... this is the Doctor. Doctor, Colonel Mace."

Just like he had done when Kayla had met him, Mace turned on attention immediately and saluted the Doctor, "Sir."

"Oh, don't salute," the Doctor corrected quickly. When Kayla glanced over at him, she was unsurprised to see his hand going to the back of his neck and was scratching at it.

At her time at UNIT, Kayla had been disturbed by the way the Doctor was worshiped despite not turning up for work in the last twenty-some odd years; the one that worshiped the Doctor the most was Col. Mace, and just as Kayla had guessed, his face fell at the rebuke from the Doctor, "But it's an honor, sir. I've read all the files on you. Technically speaking, you're still on staff. You never resigned."

While the Doctor pulled a face, Donna turned to him, incredulous, "What, you used to work for them?"

The Doctor winced, "Yeah. A long time ago, back in the 70s - or was it the 80s? It was all a bit more homespun back then," he finished with a frustrated look towards Mace.

Mace just frowned, "Times have changed, sir."

"That's enough of that "sir.""

While Mace's face fell, Martha gave the Doctor a stern look of her own, "Come on though, Doctor. You've seen it. You've been on board the  _Valiant_. We've got massive funding from the United Nations, all in the name of Homeworld Security."

"A modern UNIT for the modern world," Mace finished for her.

"What, and that means arresting ordinary workers? In the streets? In broad daylight? It's more like Guantanamo Bay out there," Donna snapped, making Mace look at her confusion while the Doctor winced behind her, "Donna, by the way. Donna Noble, since you didn't ask. I'll have a salute."

Frowning, Mace looked to the Doctor who gave him a nod. Looking confused, Mace still turned to Donna and gave her a salute, "Ma'am."

Donna gave him a sharp nod, "Thank you."

With that out of the way – Kayla had forgotten how long it took for things to get on track with the Doctor around – they finally got around to the reason UNIT had taken apart the closest ATMOS factory to them. Oddly enough, it came from the Doctor demanding, "Tell me what's going on in that factory."

"Yesterday, fifty-two people died in identical circumstances right across the world, in 11 different time zones. 5am in the UK, 6am in France, 8am in Moscow, 1pm in China—"

"They all died simultaneously," Kayla interrupted, stopping Mace from continuing with the rest of the seven different time zones.

It took a moment for Mace to stop being affronted at Kayla's interruption; had Kayla looked over at the Doctor, she would have seen the Doctor giving Mace a glower of his own, which ultimately was the reason why Mace stopped glowering.

"Exactly," he said more than a bit grudgingly, "52 deaths at the exact same moment worldwide."

"How did they die?"

"They were all inside their cars," Mace answered cryptically.

"Poisoned," Kayla elaborated, "They were all poisoned."

"I checked the biopsies. No toxins. Whatever it is, left the system immediately," Martha explained.

The Doctor very slowly looked interested at this, "What have the cars got in common?"

"Completely different makes but all fitted with ATMOS. And that is the ATMOS factory," Martha answered with a point in the direction of the factory outside.

The Doctor frowned, "What's ATMOS?"

"Oh come on, even I know that. Everyone's got ATMOS," Donna protested.

The Doctor and Martha jerked at that expression, both looking more than a bit spooked at how familiar it was to something else that happened a bit over a year ago.

"I already told Martha it wasn't him," Kayla stated, making the Doctor's shoulders sag in relief, "Sure, it's not  _human_ tech, but it's not Time Lord."

* * *

Too curious to decline, the Doctor – which meant Donna as well – followed Martha and Kayla into the ATMOS factory. Martha brought them up to a catwalk above the main floor, the view allowing them to see the entire factory below them.

"ATMOS," Martha repeated, "Stands for 'Atmospheric Emission System.' The ATMOS in your car reduces CO2 emissions to zero."

The Doctor spluttered at the claim, "Zero? No carbon? None at all?"

When Martha and Kayla gave him serious nods, the Doctor turned to Donna as if she would be able to give them the truth, an action that made Kayla feel horrible though she didn't really know why, "And you get sat-nav thrown in, plus 20 quid in shopping vouchers if you introduce a friend. Bargain."

Mace walked over to them, a frown on his face as he surveyed the factory, "And this is where they make it, Doctor, shipping worldwide. Seventeen factories across the globe but this is the central depot, sending ATMOS to every country on Earth."

The Doctor crossed his arms, "And you think ATMOS is alien?"

"It's our job to investigate that possibility," Mace replied firmly. "Doctor?" He asked, indicating for the Time Lord to follow.

Still too curious to decline, the Doctor followed, which meant Kayla, Martha, and Donna followed the two men to an office in the factory with the ATMOS device on full display for them to see. Mace waved over to it needlessly, as if they would have issues seeing it, "And here it is, laid bare. ATMOS can be threaded through any and every make of car."

"You've must've checked it before it went on sale," the Doctor pointed out.

Kayla winced as Mace chuckled, "That was  _her_ first question as well," he said with a nod to Kayla, "We did. We found nothing. That's why I thought we needed an expert."

The Doctor had jerked at Mace's mention of Kayla, but he didn't say anything about it, likely because the Doctor was too curious about the ATMOS device to worry about such petty concerns like his Bonded's feelings. Kayla was unsurprised when the Doctor turned to examine the ATMOS with his glasses firmly on his face, but she wished it didn't hurt so much that he didn't  _say_ something about how Mace had referred to her so harshly.

"Really? Who did you get?" He asked absently, sill examining the ATMOS device. When no one replied he turned, confusion still on his face. He looked to Donna, only for her to roll her eyes, "Oh, right! Me! Yes! Good."

Taking his agreement greedily, Mace exited the room; after making a face behind his back, Martha followed as well, leaving Kayla to awkwardly stand there, "I should probably go with them."

"Right! Right…yeah," the Doctor agreed, his hand going and scratching and the back of his neck.

Kayla wished it didn't hurt so much when he didn't ask her to stay. Instead, he turned to Donna, a serious expression on his face. Taking the hint, Kayla left to go find Martha and Mace, hating that she felt rejected. Isn't this what she wanted; not being around the Doctor or being with him romantically?

* * *

About thirty minutes or so later, Kayla, Martha, and Mace re-entered the office where the Doctor was  _still_ looking at the ATMOS device. He turned at their entrance and for a moment, Kayla and the Doctor's eyes met; the Doctor looked away first, moving his gaze instead to Mace, which meant he didn't see the way Kayla frowned and looked down.

"Ionizing nano-membrane carbon dioxide converter - which means that ATMOS works. Filters the CO2 at a molecular level."

"We know about that," Mace stated with a tight frown, "What's its origin? Is it alien?"

The Doctor's face tighten as well as he took in Mace, "No, but it's decades ahead of its time," he all but snapped, "Look, do you mind? Could you stand back a bit?"

Mace looked at Kayla questioning, and when she shrugged he turned back to the Doctor, "Sorry, have I done something wrong?"

"You're carrying a gun. I don't like people with guns hanging around me, all right?" The Doctor  _actually_ snapped.

"If you insist," Mace said slowly. Kayla caught a brief flash of sadness on his face before he exited the room.

"He idolizes you, you know," Kayla said as conversationally and causally as she could.

The Doctor grimaced at that, "Then he should know I don't like guns."

"He's a good man," Martha argued lightly.

"People with guns are usually the enemy in my books," the Doctor shot back, "You  _both_ seem quite at home," he added pointedly.

"This is tame compared to Torchwood," Kayla snorted with a shake of her head, "Lack of murderous aliens here, very wholesome, even."

Martha shook her head, "The more you talk about Torchwood, the more I'm regretting the deal with Jack," when the Doctor looked at her with evident curiosity, Martha just waved him off, "Besides, Doctor, if anyone got me used to fighting, it's you."

The Doctor's face colored, "Oh right, so it's my fault."

"Well, you got me the job. Besides, look at me," at the command in his former companion's voice, the Doctor huffed and put down his sonic screwdriver to turn and look at her properly, "Am I carrying a gun?"

"Suppose not," he sighed in admittance.

"It's all right for you. You can just come and go, but some of us have got to stay behind. So I've got to work from the inside and by staying inside, maybe I stand a chance of making them better," Martha explained evenly.

Very slowly, the Doctor started to grin at his former companion, "Yeah?" When she nodded, his face split into that grin that always used to make Kayla grin as well, only now she was looking away in discomfort, "That's more like Martha Jones."

"I learnt from the best."

"Well…"

As the Doctor's voice trailed off, Donna burst into the room, startling everyone, "Oi, you lot! All your storm troopers and your sonics - rubbish! Shoulda come with me."

"Where have  _you_ been?" The Doctor wondered aloud as he followed her out along with Martha, only for Kayla to stop him by grabbing his shoulder. Starting at the contact, the Doctor turned to stare at Kayla, his eyes widening as he took in her in.

"I carry a gun at Torchwood," Kayla said slowly, "Does that make me  _your_ enemy Doctor?"

Not waiting for him to reply, because she really didn't want to hear whatever gobbled excuse he would try and give her, Kayla stormed out of the office and joined Martha and Mace once more, pretending to listen as Donna displayed an empty file to them with a smug look on her face that didn't twitch when the Doctor joined, putting Martha and Mace between himself and Kayla.

Before Kayla knew it, she was following Mace and the Doctor out to the field headquarter for UNIT while Martha and Donna started doing  _something,_ of what Kayla did not know nor did she care. She also didn't care about whatever rubbish Mace was sprouting about the creator of ATMOS, because why else would he have a picture of the slimy Luke to show the Doctor? Kayla hadn't met Luke, but everything about him reminded her too much of those smug rich men and women at the Time Agency, getting by on their family name.

Besides, as much as she really didn't want to be around the Doctor, especially after she had brought up the topic of  _guns,_ it was her job. Martha wanted to warn Donna about how traveling with the Doctor could thoroughly mess her entire family and herself up if she wasn't honest about it before hand, and Kayla was in full support of this.

The Doctor just wasn't good at thinking about the consequences of his actions. Most sane people would agree that pulling random young women from their life and taking them through time and space only to drop them off, if they were lucky, was  _not_ a good thing to do without some sort of warning. Impulses decisions like Martha's and even Rose's had led to others suffering and  _dying,_ and that was something Donna needed to know.

But the Doctor, of course, would hate having the pretty picture of traveling through time being fun, so Kayla's job was to keep her from Donna and Martha. Mace made this easy by spending so much time describing the creator of ATMOS to the point where the Doctor decided very firmly that he would go and speak to Luke himself.

"Just let me go tell Donna I'm leaving."

Kayla snapped to the attention at that, realizing too late that the Doctor was already  _leaving_ the field office. Cursing under her breath, she hurried after him, trying to catch up to the quickly striding Mace and the Doctor.

She only caught up with them after the Doctor had been assigned some soldier to be his personal bodyguard. The man saluted her and greeted her formally, drawing the Doctor's attention to her, "Oh."

"I'm going with you," she said.

The Doctor just shrugged, "Fine by me. Just  _don't_ shoot anyone."

Kayla glowered at him, "I think I can decide if that's necessary."

"Good. Because it  _isn't_ necessary."

"Ehm!" At the very loud, very direct clearing of a female throat, the Doctor and Kayla turned guilty towards the noise to see Donna standing there, her hands on her hips, "Are you two done?" When both nodded like chastised children, Donna just nodded primly, " _Thanks."_

The chastised feeling did  _not_ stay for long for the Doctor. He grabbed Donna's hand and started to pull her anxiously towards their car, "Come on, we're going to the country," he explained rapidly, "Fresh air, geniuses, what more could you ask?"

Unlike the Doctor, Kayla was actually  _looking_ at Donna, which meant she was unsurprised when Donna wrestled out of the Doctor's grasp, "I'm not coming with you. I've been thinking. I'm sorry...I'm going home."

The Doctor swallowed hard, "Really?" He asked, his voice going up an octave.

"I've got to," Donna said firmly.

"Well, if that's what you want. I mean, it's a bit soon. I had so many places I wanted to take you. The Fifteenth Broken Moon of the Medusa Cascade, the lightening skies of Cotter Palluni's World, the diamond coral reefs of Kaata Flo Ko...Thank you. Thank you, Donna Noble. It's been brilliant. You-you've saved my life in so many ways," Donna nodded, a smirk playing across her face as the Doctor continued, "You're... You're-you're just popping home for a visit. That's what you mean," he suddenly realized.

"You  _dumbo."_

"And then you're coming back."

"Do you know what you are? A great, big, outer-space dunce."

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed, his hand going to scratch at the back of his neck.

As Donna continued to taunt him, the foursome got into the car, the ginger declaring that they could give her a lift while they were leaving.

* * *

**And we have hit the start of the climax of the story! The Doctor is back with Kayla, but Kayla isn't too pleased with that. I figured Kayla's regeneration is not one to show love to those she's frustrated with, and she's frustrated with the Doctor for a lot of reasons, which should hopefully become clear in the coming chapter. Don't expect too much of a confrontation, though, because Kayla also knows that to save the world she has to work together with the Doctor.**

**The next few chapters are probably my favorite ones I've written so far, so I'm thrilled to share them with ya'll and I hope you'll like them!**


	14. The Sontaran Stratagem Pt. 2

Once they had dropped off Donna, Ross the solider started to drive the Doctor and Kayla to Luke's special school for bright children, the Rattigan Academy. After a few moments of awkward silence, Ross the solider decided to break it by explaining about the Academy to the Doctor, "UNIT's been watching the Rattigan Academy for ages. It's all a bit Hitler Youth. Exercise at dawn and classes and special diets."

" _Turn left,"_ the ATMOS system helpfully ordered, and Ross did so because it was right. Like it was whenever Kayla got into a car and it was giving directions.

Starting at the computerized voice, the Doctor looked down at the ATMOS system in the car and frowned at it, "Ross, one question. If UNIT think that ATMOS dodgy—"

"How come we've got it in the Jeeps?"

"Yeah."

"Ha, tell me about it. They're fitted as standard on all government vehicles. We can't get rid of them until we can prove there's something wrong."

"Except for Torchwood," Kayla pointed out from the back, leaning forwards to make sure she was heard, "We had no idea that this was going on until I came here."

"Lucky you, then," Ross grumbled, "Drives me around the bend," he said with a nod to the ATMOS device…just as he drove them around the bend leading up to the Rattigan Academy.

"Oh, nice one."

Kayla could see Ross smiling, "Timed that perfectly."

"Ha. Yeah. You did."

" _This is your final destination,"_ the ATMOS device announced, somehow sounding very threatening as the Doctor, Kayla, and Ross exited the parked vehicle.

When they got out, Kayla looked around the property. The academy itself was a large mansion that, according to UNIT, Rattigan had built from mysterious money. All the children were allowed to go there for free, provided that they made several inventions each month and gave up the rights to said inventions, which most happily did. Ross, however, had been correct when he had likened it to Hitler Youth, or really any fanatic cult. The schedules, diets, and overall lives of the students were controlled by Luke every single day.

According to the schedule UNIT had found online, the children were doing their one-hour exercise. Kayla did not have to look hard, or far, to be able to see them; they stood out in their bright red track suits, all exactly alike, as they ran around the school.

One boy did stand out, if only because he wasn't running. He turned, with a very bored expression and a sneer on his face as he took in Kayla, the Doctor, and Ross the solider, "I suppose you're the Doctor," he said with a dismissive nod to the Doctor, "And you're Kay."

"Hello," the Doctor greeted.

There was an awkward pause as Kayla did  _not_ greet him herself, which made Luke's sneer more pronounced, "Your commanding officer phoned ahead," he explained for a question that had never been asked.

"Oh, I haven't got a commanding officer. Have you?" When Luke just sneered at him, the Doctor turned and beckoned Ross over, "Oh, this is Ross. Say hello, Ross."

"Afternoon, sir," Ross greeted.

It would have been Luke's turn to create an awkward silence, but the Doctor stopped that from happening by running over to the main doors, "Let's have a look, then! I can smell genius...in a good way."

It wasn't like Kayla and Ross had a choice, so they followed the Doctor, and Luke, when Kayla glanced back at him, seemed to be weighing whether or not it was worth it to go, but a look of concern, likely at the crash from the Doctor hitting something inside, made it clear that he had decided the consequences of the Doctor alone in the school heavily outweighed his want to appear as if he was above them. While Kayla didn't sympathize, she did understand.

* * *

The Doctor's aimless wanderings brought the group to one of the many, many labs of the school. Inside, focused students gave the group a quick once over, taking them in for a brief second before they looked back down at their work.

"Oh, now... that's clever! Look!" The Doctor cried out, not noticing the way the students working around him glared at him for the very loud interruption of their work; no, he was too busy putting on his glasses to care about the distraction he was, "Single-molecule fabric. How thin is that?! You could pack a tent in a thimble," he moved onto  _another_ equipment and boggled at it like an insect, "Oh! Gravity simulators! Terraforming, biospheres, nano-tech steel construction!" Beaming, he spun to face Luke Rattigan, "Ha-ha, this is brilliant!" Luke smirked at the compliment, only for the smirk to fall off as the Doctor continued, "But y'know with equipment like this, you could, oh, I dunno...move to another planet or something."

"If only that was possible," Luke snapped, putting enough sarcasm in his words to make it clear that he was mocking the Doctor.

"If only that  _were_ possible," the Doctor corrected, "Conditional clause."

Luke glared at him, "I think you'd better come with me."

* * *

They followed Luke to his private quarters in the academy. Once there, in his natural element, Luke felt braver, or at least felt as if he had the ability to insult them, "You're smarter than the usual UNIT grunts, I'll give you that," he said to Ross the solider.

The Doctor frowned, "He called you a grunt. Don't call Ross a grunt, he's nice. We like Ross," he said, but it was not in his usual light-hearted tone, "Look at this place..." he added as he took in Luke's quarters, which were far nicer than anywhere else in the building.

"What exactly do you want?" Luke finally snapped, the question one of many he desperately hoped would push them out.

"I was just thinking, what a responsible 18-year-old. Inventing zero-carbon cars, saving the world..."

"It takes a man with vision," Luke finished with a stiff nod.

"ATMOS will might the oil run out sooner. Everyone wants a car now because it made it cool, so more people are driving. More cars means more petrol, so oil runs out much sooner than it would if there was no ATMOS," Kayla said.

"The ATMOS system could make things worse," the Doctor added with a severe look towards Luke.

Luke glowered at the pair of them, "Yeah, well, that's a tautology. You can't say ATMOS "system" 'cause it stands for Atmospheric Emission System. So you're saying "Atmospheric Emission System System". Do you see, Mr. Conditional Clause?"

"It's been a long time since anyone's said no to you, isn't it?" The Doctor asked mildly, though it wasn't really a question. Everyone knew what he was saying was true.

"I'm still right, though," Luke said smugly.

"Not easy, is it, being clever? You look at the world and you connect things - random things - and think, 'why can't anyone else see it? The rest of the world is so slow,'" the Doctor said slowly, his voice softening in a remembered way.

"Yeah."

"And you're on your own," the Doctor added.

"I know."

"But not with this," while Luke jerked back from the Doctor, the sudden tonal shift startling him, the Doctor pulled out the ATMOS device and held it up, "'Cause there's no way you invented this single-handed. It might be Earth technology, but that's like finding a mobile phone in the Middle Ages," with a shake of his head, he tossed it over to Ross so he could approach the giant machine – clearly a teleport – that Luke had put behind him, "No, no, I'll tell you what it's like! It's like finding this in someone's front room. Albeit, a very big front room."

"Why? What is it?" Ross asked.

Kayla paid him, and the Doctor, no mind. Instead, she walked around the room, going ignored thanks to the Doctor's rambling. By the time the Doctor walked inside and pressed the button, Kayla was inside as well, which meant they  _both_ were teleported away to the twin teleport pad.

Which happened to be on a Sontaran ship, filled with fully armed Sontarans.

" _Orbit now holding at 556.3, sector 270."_

"Oh," the Doctor breathed.

"Oh  _shit,"_ Kayla cursed.

The Doctor whirled to face her, "I-Wha-"

"We have intruders!"

Spinning again, the Doctor smirked at the Sontaran that had noticed them and sounded the alarm, "How did they get in? In-tru-da window?" As the Sontarans advanced, the Doctor pressed the transport button, sending them back to Luke's quarters.

Immediately, the Doctor sprinted out of the pod, and while Kayla didn't run, she did very quickly exit the pad. She turned, backing up, to keep an eye on it while the Doctor tried to get Ross and Luke to leave. Of course, both of them didn't, so both of them were there when a Sontaran teleported in.

Not risking another one coming in, the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to short out the controls, and the Sontaran gave him a fierce glare for that, "Sontaran!" The Doctor quickly barked, stopping the Sontaran from shooting him instantly, "That's your name, isn't it? How did I know that, eh?" When nothing happened, he slowly put his sonic away, "Fascinating, isn't it? Isn't that worth keeping me alive?"

Ross wasn't so smart, "I order you to surrender in the name of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce."

"Stop it, you're just getting yourself killed," Kayla snapped at him, "Your gun won't work anyways. Copper extraction stops the bullets from doing anything."

"It's because of the cordalaine signal," the Doctor added as if that explained everything, though Ross' face showed that this was  _not_ helpful at all.

"How do you two know so much?" The Sontaran demanded.

"Well…" as the Doctor's voice trailed off, he started to walk around the room, a stark contrast to Kayla remaining very still.

"Who are they?" The Sontaran asked, his question directed, unsurprisingly, at Luke.

"He didn't give his name, but she's Kay, a scientific adviser at UNIT."

Halting his walk around the room, the Doctor, leaning against a desk, commented, "This isn't typical Sontaran behavior, is it? Hiding? Using teenagers? Stopping bullets?" He shook his head in disgust, "A Sontaran should face bullets with dignity! Shame on you!"

"You dishonor me!" the Sontaran cried out.

"You dishonor  _yourself,"_ the Doctor corrected.

The Sontaran straightened, "I will look into my enemy's eyes," he said proudly. Very slowly, he took off his helmet to reveal a head that looked like a baked potato. It was really an unfortunate thing about Sontarans, because they became very angry when people laughed at them or shamed them, but how could a person  _not_ laugh when a very angry baked potato came running at them while shouting about glory to an empire of baked potatoes?

It was why as soon as the helmet came off, Kayla had to struggle to keep her face blank. She desperately wanted to laugh at the alien in front of her, and Ross' faint comment of, "Oh, my God," and the unimpressed look on Luke's face were  _not_ helping her want to not laugh.

"And your name?" The Doctor asked in a half-amused voice.

"General Staal of the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet. Staal the Undefeated."

The Doctor frowned, "That's not a very good nickname. What if you do get defeated? 'Staal-The-Not-Quite-So- Undefeated-Anymore-But-Never-Mind?'"

Ross scoffed, "Looks like a potato, a baked potato. A talking baked potato."

While Kayla could hardly keep a straight face, the Doctor somehow had the ability to look chastising, "Now, Ross, don't be rude. You look like a pink weasel to him," allowing Ross to mull on that description of humans for a bit, the Doctor casually leaned over and picked up a tennis racket and bounced the accompanying tennis ball on it, "The Sontarans are the finest soldiers in the galaxy. A clone race grown in batches of millions with only one weakness—"

"Sontarans have no weakness!"

"There's a weakness," Kayla corrected as dryly as she could.

"Aren't you two meant to be clever? Only an idiot would provoke him," Luke snapped at them, but he went ignored.

"But the Sontarans are fed by a probic vent in the back of the neck. That's their weak spot, which means they always have to face their enemy in battle. Isn't that brilliant? They can never turn their backs!" The Doctor explained quickly.

"We stare into the face of death!"

"Yeah? Well, stare at this!" Lifting up the tennis racket he had so casually gotten, he hit the tennis ball off of the back of the teleport pod, making it bounce back and hit the vent on the back of Staal's amour. As soon as he started to go down, the Doctor grabbed Kayla by the hand and dragged Ross by his collar, shouting, "Out! Out! Out!"

Not needing to be told twice, Kayla sprinted alongside the Doctor, hardly noticing their connected hands until they were in their car and speeding from the school. Still breathing hard, she looked down at the hand the Doctor had held and rubbed her other one over it.

* * *

They were making good time until they hit trafficked areas. It would take time they didn't have to be pulled over by a police, so Ross slowed his driving to the actual speed limit of the area. While the Doctor said that he understood, he still was clearly frustrated at the snail's pace they were going at with nothing for him to do except to drum his fingers on the side of the car.

"Call UNIT, would you?" Ross asked – ordered – the Doctor.

Leaping at the opportunity, the Doctor grabbed the car's radio and spoke into it urgently, "Greyhound Forty to Trap One. Repeat: can you hear me? Over."

When there was no reply, Ross looked at the radio, "Why is it not working?"

"It's the Sontarans. They must have a way to isolate and track individuals ATMOS devices," Kayla suggested, a twinge of worry in her voice as she eyed the navigation system just sitting there, "How did all those people die again?"

" _Turn left,"_ the ATMOS device commanded far to innocently.

"Ross, go right," Kayla ordered sharply.

"It says left," Ross pointed out with clear confusion.

"I'm aware, but still go right."

Frowning, Ross tried to turn the car, only for the steering wheel itself to lock up, "I've got no control. It's driving itself. It won't stop," he said frantically; his hands leaving the wheel, he tried the door only for that to not open, "The doors are locked!"

A whirring sound on the Doctor's side indicated that he was trying his sonic screwdriver, but Kayla didn't need the groan of frustration that followed to know that the doors were deadlocked, though his cry that they were deadlocked was a nice confirmation to have. The "I can't stop it," that followed this proclamation wasn't so nice.

" _Turn left,"_ ATMOS commanded, and jerkily, the car swerved to the left.

Growling, the Doctor tried to sonic the ATMOS itself, "The sat-nav's just a box, wired through the whole car."

But that did nothing, and the car continued to turn itself until they were in front of a lake, a lake that Kayla was sure was nice, but the fact that were inching towards it made it very ominous.

While Ross cried out in horror at what seemed to be their watery doom, the Doctor suddenly leaned forwards and called into the ATMOS, "ATMOS, are you programmed to contradict my orders?"

" _Confirmed."_

"Anything I say, you'll ignore it?" The Doctor pressed. When the ATMOS confirmed that as well, the Doctor smirked, "Then drive into the river! I order you to drive into the river! Do it! Drive into the river!"

Kayla had never been more happy than when the breaks squealed and the car stopped just as the water's edge. The doors unlocked and the trio scrambled out, the sound of the ATMOS having a breakdown reaching them.

"Get down!" The Doctor cried out; he grabbed Kayla and pushed her to the ground with himself following. Next to them, Ross got down as well. Behind them, the ATMOS continued to get higher pitched and higher and…

It sparked very briefly and a bit of acrid smoke reached them, but there was no explosion. Very slowly, the Doctor lifted his head and looked around, "Oh, is that it?" He asked, and somehow, he decided that that  _small_ explosion needed to be met with disappointment.

* * *

They were still too far from UNIT to walk to it, and the Doctor didn't want to risk the TARDIS, so the trio had nothing to do until the Doctor very suddenly remembered that Donna lived nearby. With no other suggestions or options, the trio walked to Donna's house.

There, the Doctor ringed the doorbell, standing on the front step as Kayla and Ross waited behind him. The door opened and Donna Noble stared at the wayward Time Lord on her step; of course, he didn't say hello. Instead, he just burst out, "You would not believe the day I'm having."

Donna raised an eyebrow at him, but still stepped out of her house and closed the door, listening with increasing, well expressed horror, about their issue with the ATMOS. When the Doctor asked to examine it, Donna instantly said that he could while she would try and contact Martha.

"I'll requisition us a vehicle," Ross said as the Doctor got to work examining the car with his sonic whirling away.

Kayla was the only one who seemed to hear Ross, so she gave him a short nod, "Nothing with ATMOS in it," she reminded him before he ran off.

An awkward silence fell between the new trio of Donna, the Doctor, and Kayla; an awkward silence that seemed to only affect Kayla. She had nothing to do, which meant there was no way she could distract herself from feeling awkward in the Doctor's presence. He hadn't really spoken to her since she had informed him of her gun, and as much as she  _didn't_ want to talk to him, part of her really did. At least that would be more normal than this odd, controlled silence.

The door opening behind her startled Kayla, and she turned to see an elderly man come out with an excited expression on his face, "Is it him? Is it him? Is it the Doctor?" Moving past Kayla as if she wasn't a Time Lady, the man spotted the Doctor under the bonnet of the car, "Ah, it's you!"

Moving out very carefully, the Doctor turned to look around, "Who?" He asked, trying to spot anything new…which was the man, "Oh... it's you!"

The car momentarily forgotten, the Doctor walked over to Donna and the elderly man, which left Kayla to edge closer. It became quickly apparent that the Doctor and the old man had not only met, but that Donna and the old man were somehow related. He seemed like a nice, perhaps a bit confused, older man, and as soon as he had stopped being giddy about meeting the Doctor, he turned to Donna and asked who  _Kayla_ was.

"I'm Kayla Hark," Kayla quickly introduced, so anxious for  _something_ to do that she walked towards the man and gave – attempted, at least – a smile, "The Doctor and I are-"

"Bonded," the Doctor finished for her, leaving his anxious ramblings about the Sontarans and their plan to join the conversation, "It's like marriage."

"Oh," the older man beamed at them, "Are you traveling with my Donna too?"

"I've been staying on Earth and working with an organization in Cardiff for a bit," Kayla said as smoothly as she could."

The man just nodded inanely and then turned to stare at the Doctor. With no conversation left, Kayla watched as the Doctor circled the car, only to jerk back over when Donna cried out that Martha had  _finally_ picked up the phone. After a brief explanation of the situation and what code needed to be declared, the Doctor hung up and went back to work on the car, using his sonic on it once again.

"You've tried sonicing it before. You didn't find anything," Donna accused.

"Yeah, but now I know it's Sontaran, I know what I'm looking for," the Doctor explained without removing his head.

He continued to work and, since it was rather boring to watch someone work in silence on a car, Donna and the older man, her grandfather, got into a discussion about her boyfriends. This discussion was paused when something sparked and the Doctor cried out, victorious, "Whoa! It's a temporal pocket! I knew there was something else in there. It's hidden just a second out of sync with real time."

"What do they need to hide?" Kayla asked, moving to behind the Doctor so she could see the device for herself.

Muttering about Sontarans being dishonorable, the Doctor didn't answer, yet Kayla remained behind him. She would never admit that it was because she liked standing behind him…but it was because she liked standing behind him. And she hated that she liked standing behind him so much.

It was easy to not focus on the self-loathing for her weakness when Donna's mother, a vaguely familiar face to her thanks to Donna's wedding, came up. As soon as she noticed the Doctor, her somewhat nice face turned to a sneer, "Oh, it's you! Doctor-what was it?"

"Yeah, that's me," the Doctor said with a wave of his hand.

While Donna's grandfather questioned Donna's mother about this new relation, the Doctor continued to work on the device. His sonic made an odd beeping noise and then…"Get back!"

Abruptly, Kayla found herself getting pushed back by the Doctor's body as gas flew out of the device still in the car. Everyone cried out in horror and moved away as well, staring at the sudden, poisonous gas that was coming from the car.

Glancing back at her briefly and assessing she was far enough away, the Doctor edged closer to the car and soniced it, "That'll stop it," he declared, and like much with his sonic screwdriver, he was right.

Donna's mother was, understandably, not pleased with this sudden turn of events, and made  _sure_ she was heard, "I told you! He's blown up the car! Who is he anyway? What sort of doctor blows up cars?"

"Oh, not now, Mum!"

Kayla was more than a bit surprised when Donna's mother actually left. The past few mothers the Doctor had been around hadn't backed off when their daughter's complained about their behavior.

She was also surprised when the Doctor was smart enough to wait until the frustrated woman was out of hearing range before he stated, "That wasn't just exhaust fumes. Some sort of gas. Artificial gas."

"Poisonous," Kayla added severely.

"But if it's poisonous...Then they've got poisonous gas in every car on Earth," Donna said slowly, and she was right; the street around them was living proof, for every car on it had an ATMOS sticker on it. Kayla glanced back at the car they had just set off, remembering the amount of gas that had come out. That had been a lot of gas, enough to kill a human, and if every single car had one…

"They could kill everyone on Earth," Kayla mumbled to herself. She turned, her eyes wide and her face tight, to see if the Doctor had had any enlightenment while she had been thinking, but that thought went from her mind as she saw Donna's grandfather get into his car and close the door.

Of course, the door locked, and of course, the car started without him putting his keys into it, yet Kayla was still horrified. She could do nothing but stand in place as the Doctor tried to desperately help the man, Donna banged on the windows of the car, and Donna's mother came out and cried out in horror.

Kayla felt as if she was numb when she saw that there was gas in the car with the man as well. She hadn't even liked him that much, but she hated the idea of him dying in a car with his frantic family all around him.

She turned to the Doctor, only to see him standing in the street, a horrified expression on his face as he took in  _all_ the cars spewing poisonous gas.

There was nothing they could do, and Kayla had that sinking feeling of hopelessness that she had had after time had reversed and her stomach had been flat. There was nothing they could do, and Kayla remembered  _exactly_ why she had left the Doctor's life, because this feeling was hell on Earth.

* * *

**I forgot how much I liked this episode. Series 4 was probably the best series by RTD. I was looking over the list of episodes and while some of them weren't great, they were all pretty good. Though the end of series 3 will always have a special place in my heart, this series was nice overall.**

**As for this chapter, I felt like I did a decent job of building up some of the different tensions with Kayla and the Doctor. They both still love each other, but it's hard for them to be together. I kinda wanted to have someone call out some of the Doctor's qualities that I don't like, and I think Kayla has become that someone in this regeneration. I wonder how much the Doctor will like this new thing with her...**


	15. The Poison Sky Pt. 1

The world was going crazy around Kayla, and the Time Lady could only stand there in horror next to her Bonded, the Doctor. The Sontarans, aliens with the unfortunate similar looks of a potato, had created a device that spewed toxic gas from the cars it had been placed in, and, of course, the device was in  _every_ car in Britain.

Including the car that Donna's grandfather was trapped inside. The car had deadlocked itself, which meant the Doctor couldn't use his sonic screwdriver, and none of them had a hard enough, or a sharp enough, object to break him out. All they could do was watch helplessly as he suffocated to death in front of him.

That resignation became so much worse to Kayla when Donna, the Doctor's current companion, turned to the Time Lord, "He's gonna choke! Doctor!"

While the Doctor tried to open the car once more, relaying back that it still wouldn't open, Kayla noticed Donna's mother come out with…

"Get him to move back!" She shouted as the other woman came towards the car with a large axe.

Turning to look at her with confusion, the Doctor and Donna tried to get Donna's grandfather to move. Once he was near the trunk, coughing horribly, Donna's mother smashed through the windshield with the axe. Everyone stared at her in amazement, making the woman scowl, "Well, don't just stand there! Get him out!"

Not needing to be told twice, the Doctor and Donna lunged forwards and helped the elderly man out, who somehow managed to give them  _both_  a smile, "Thanks," he choked out.

"I can't believe you've got an axe!" Donna cried out, turning to her mother once her grandfather was out of the car.

"Burglars!" Donna's mother snapped, gesturing around the street as if one might jump out of the trash bins. Of course, they would not have been aware of such an occurrence since the noxious gas continued to press in and limit their ability to see or breathe.

As the elderly man, Donna's mother, and Donna all started to cough, the Doctor pointed in the direction of their house, "Get inside the house. Just try and close off the doors and windows."

Not watching to see if they obeyed, Kayla turned at the sound of a car to see Ross the solider pulling up in a black cab, "Doctor, Kayla! This is all I could find that hasn't got ATMOS."

While the Doctor corralled his companion, Kayla hurried into the cab and sat down, breathing in the fresh air it offered. Time Lords had much better breathing in humans, but the poisonous gas outside was still enough to bother her. It almost made her feel sorry for Donna when she entered the cab and sat down in the back next to her, coughing heartedly.

The Time Lady knew, in a disconnected sort of way, that her past regeneration would have helped Donna; she would have thumped the ginger on the back or offer her water. This regeneration, however, did not leap to help her, after all, she too was coughing occasionally and Donna…Donna wasn't hers and the Doctor's companion, she was just the Doctor's.

Wouldn't it be overstepping by helping Donna?

Her worrying turned to be in vain, because after the Donna dismissed the Doctor's concerns when he got into the cab, there was no discussion of whether or not  _Kayla_ should help with the human; in fact, there was no discussion at  _all_ in the cab until they pulled up the ATMOS factory UNIT was still at and jumped out of the cab.

"Ross, look after yourself, get inside the building," the Doctor ordered, pausing what would be a mad run to lean into the cab.

Kayla faintly heard Ross reply in the positive before the trio was running to the UNIT HQ, only to stop when Donna started to cough and splutter behind them, "The air is disgusting!"

As if he had forgotten about her being human, the Doctor turned, blinking, and then nodded sharply, "It's not so bad for me, go on, get inside the TARDIS. Oh, never given you a key!" Pausing, he ruffled through his pockets until he pulled out a TARDIS key and handed it to Donna, "Keep that! Go on, that's yours! Quite a big moment really!"

Donna stared down at the key and then gave the Doctor a harsh look, "Yeah, maybe we can get sentimental after the world's finished choking to death!"

"Good idea!" the Doctor praised.

He turned, glancing over at Kayla, and started to hurry off again with her by his side, only to stop  _again_ because Donna shouted after them, "Where are you going?"

"Stopping a war!" The Doctor shouted back.

And finally, finally, the two were able to go to the temporary UNIT field base. As soon as they entered, everyone stared at them in complete shock, a shock that made Kayla feel distinctly uncomfortable. Everyone was used to her walking around and had, for the most part, learned to not stare at her, but when she was with the Doctor it was like her wants were not respected.

The Doctor, however, did  _not_ have this frustration at being the certain of attention, "Right then, here I am, good. Whatever you do, Colonel Mace, do not engage the Sontarans in battle, there is nothing they like better than a war. Just leave this to me."

Mace frowned but nodded sharply, "And what are you going to do?"

The Doctor smiled grimly, "I've got the TARDIS, I'm gonna get on board their ship," he declared. He turned, briefly look at Kayla as he did so as if he was scared she would wander off, and then slowly looked over at Martha. A  _clone,_ of Martha, really, but judging by the way she was carefully looking at them, it seemed best not to drop the façade.

But before the Doctor left, he paused and looked over at Kayla once more, this time with a deep concern about her safety. What if Kayla didn't know Martha was a clone? Surely, she would be able to smell it, but what if she didn't?

The concern was enough for him to close his eyes briefly, having to focus to reach out to a mental connection that had once been ready to access with only a thought. He couldn't allow himself to feel sadden at that; no, he needed to concentrate.

' _Kayla?'_

There was a jerking pause in the link, during which Kayla was trying to walk while also accessing it,  _'Is it about the clone?'_

The Doctor nearly breathed a sigh of relief, only stopping himself when he noticed that Martha was eyeing him. Giving her a wane smile, he tried to speed up his pace so that it would look like he was rushing to stop a war, which he was…he just had his Bonded's safety as a higher priority.

' _You can't let her know we know,'_ the Doctor warned as the trio exited the factory and hurried through the horrible air,  _'They might hurt Martha in revenge.'_

' _I know, Doctor,'_ Kayla reassured, a sour note in her voice.

If they had had more time, the Doctor would have replied to her, but he stopped short of whatever he was going to say when they reached the alley the TARDIS had been in and it was…

"But... where's the TARDIS?" the Martha clone spluttered, her voice just a  _little_ too fake to be believable surprise.

The Doctor walked over to the TARDIS, his face scrunching up, "Taste that, in the air. Yecch. That sort of metal tang. Teleport exchange. It's the Sontarans, they've taken it. I'm stuck, on Earth like…like an ordinary person. Like a human! How rubbish is that! Sorry, no offence, but come on!"

Normal Martha would have become affronted, but this Martha just shrugged, "So what do we do?"

"Well...I mean it's shielded, they could never detect it," the Doctor said slowly.

"Even if they did," Kayla added, "Sontarans are incredibly stupid. They'd never be able to damage it."

Grimacing at the insult, Martha still nodded, though it looked like the movement was more grudging than actual agreement.

There was a lull as the Doctor just stared at Martha; the clone was pretty bad at acting human, it wasn't even pretending to be affected by the air!

"What?" the Martha clone asked sharply, staring back at the Doctor.

"I'm just wondering, have you phoned your family and Tom?"

The Martha clone's lip curled slightly before she had a chance to plaster a fake confused look, "No, what for?"

"The gas. They need to stay inside," Kayla answered.

Martha frowned, "'Course I'll tell them, yeah," she paused and looked around the alleyway, "What about Donna? I mean, where's she?"

"Oh, she's gone home. She's not like you, she's not a soldier. Right. So, avanti!"

It was a testimony to how little the clone knew of Martha that she didn't protest and try to get the Doctor to talk to her about Donna. She just followed the Doctor and Kayla to the UNIT field base.

* * *

At their entrance, the UNIT staff turned to gape at them once more, though this was likely because of the Doctor's shouted, "Change of plan," upon their entrance.

Col. Mace smiled grimly at the Doctor, "Good to have you fighting alongside us, Doctor."

The Doctor made a face and shook his head, "I'm not fighting, I'm not-fighting, as in not hyphen fighting, got it? Now, does anyone know what this gas is yet?"

"We're working on it," Martha offered, not noticing the frown she earned for this unverified statement.

A blonde haired woman Kayla vaguely recognized came over, "It's harmful, but not lethal until it reaches 80% density. We're having the first reports of deaths from the centre of Tokyo City."

"And who are you?" The Doctor asked, a question Kayla was glad he asked.

"Captain Marion Price, sir," the woman answered with a salute.

The Doctor soured at the formal gesture and greeting, "Oh, put your hand down. Don't salute."

Looking confused, Price very slowly put her hand down and stepped back, allowing Col. Mace to speak once more, "Jodrell Bank's traced a signal, Doctor, coming from 5000 miles above the Earth. We're guessing that's what triggered the cars."

"That would be the Sontaran ship," Kayla said with a nod. She frowned and peered at one of the screens, "You're not planning on hitting it with a missile, are you?"

When Col. Mace nodded and elaborated on the topic by mentioning that NATO was prepared to strike at any moment, Kayla opened her mouth to protest, but, unsurprisingly, the Doctor beat her to it, "You can't do that, nuclear missiles won't even scratch the surface," he paused and then requested quickly, "Let me talk to the Sontarans."

Kayla was surprised when Col. Mace's face darkened, "You're not authorized to speak on behalf of the Earth."

"Yes, he is, actually," Kayla corrected, making Col. Mace turn towards her with clear frustration; a frustration that only made her lift her cross her arms, "They'll respect him far more than any  _ape."_

Mace started to fume; his eyes buggered out, his face changed from a dark red to an almost purple, and he opened his mouth to say something when – "She's right."

Suddenly, Mace was outnumbered; Kayla disagreed with him, the Doctor disagreed with him, and Martha disagreed with him – though Martha's disagreement was out of character for her considering she  _never_ would have supported the way Kayla sneered "ape," but Mace didn't need to know that.

Sulking like a child, Mace stepped aside, allowing the Doctor to wordlessly connect the UNIT systems to the Sontaran ship with his sonic screwdriver, "Calling the Sontaran Command Ship under Jurisdiction Two of the Intergalactic Rules of Engagement. This is the Doctor."

A Sontaran, looking like an angry and somehow old potato, came onto screen,  _"Doctor, breathing your last?"_

"My God, they're like trolls," Mace gasped, only to get a sharp glare from Kayla for his remark.

"So, tell me, General Staal, since when did you lot become cowards?" The Doctor asked…only just after he had chastised Mace for  _his_ lack of diplomacy.

" _How dare you? Doctor, you impugn my honor!"_

"Yeah, I'm really glad you didn't say belittle cos then I'd have a field day. But poison gas? That's the weapon of a coward and you know it. Staal, you could blast this planet out of the sky, and yet you're sitting up above watching it die. Where's the fight in that? Where's the honor? Or, are you lot planning something else? Cos this isn't normal Sontaran warfare. What are you lot up to?"

Stilling looking very angry, though if Kayla was truly being fair then Staal  _always_ looked angry to her, Staal seemed to straighten and smirk, or at least attempt to _, "A general would be unwise to reveal his strategy to the opposing forces."_

The Doctor just nodded and said with a smirk of his own, "Aaah, the war's not going so well, then? Losing, are we?"

Staal stiffened into  _more_ anger once more,  _"Such a suggestion is impossible."_

"What war?" Mace asked.

Kayla turned him, her arms still crossed, and sharply explained, "Sontarans and Rutans – they're another alien race that's unfriendly – have been fighting for 50,000 years."

"50,000 years of bloodshed, and for what?" The Doctor asked.

For a second, Kayla had thought he was speaking to her, and she had opened her mouth to answer, but Staal cut her off with his loud declaration of the Sontaran battle cry, or chant,  _"For victory. Sontar-ha!"_ Behind him, the mass of blue armored figures, all with the same potato shaped, echoed the cry, repeating it over and over and over…

"Give me a break," the Doctor complained as he rolled his eyes. Casually, he used his sonic screwdriver to change the screen to an unfamiliar cartoon show, causing cries of concern to swell in the field base as, for a brief moment, a hostile alien force was left to their own devices

"Doctor. I would seriously recommend that this dialogue is handled by official Earth representation," Col. Mace tried, but the Doctor just brushed him off.

For a minute or so, counted by the Doctor on his watch, the screen stayed on the cartoon show. Then, with a lazy flourish, the Doctor switched the screen back to the Staal, who was standing and glowering at the screen. Before he could complain about his treatment, the Doctor asked with an arched eyebrow, "Finished?"

" _You will not be so quick to ridicule when you'll see our prize. Behold!"_ With a flourish of his arm, he motioned to the TARDIS standing behind him,  _"We are the first Sontarans in history to capture a TARDIS."_

What Staal didn't notice about the TARDIS, and thank god for this oversight, was that the door to the TARDIS was just  _barely_ open, as if a ginger-haired companion was peeking out to try and see what was going on.

For a moment, Kayla thought about making sure the Doctor knew, but just as she closed her eyes to send the message to him, he spoke grudgingly, "Well. As prizes go, that's... _noble,"_ Staal, either not noticing or not caring about the emphasis, just smirked as the Doctor continued, "Did you never wonder about its design? It's phone box. It contains a phone. A telephonic device for communication. Sort of symbolic. Like if only we could communicate. You and I."

" _All you have communicated is the distress, of you and your Bonded, Doctor."_

Kayla jolted at the mention of herself; she couldn't remember the last time she had heard someone else refer to her as the Doctor's Bonded, and she couldn't deny, as much as she wanted to, that it felt nice to be recognized as that familiar term – though she quickly brushed that admittance to the side.

Still, despite how much she repressed the thought, she couldn't help the smile that briefly flickered on her face as the Doctor's voice shook every so slightly when he spoke again, "Big mistake though. Showing it to me," while Staal just continued to smirk, the Doctor slowly lifted up a device, "Cos I've got remote control."

Staal's face dropped and he barked,  _"Cease transmission!"_ Instantly, the screen went black.

The Doctor stared at the screen for a bit and then shrugged, "Oh, well."

He turned, only for Col. Mace to stand in front of him, glaring, "That's achieved nothing."

The Doctor smiled in a way Kayla could describe as cheeky, "Oh, you'd be surprised."

* * *

For a while, the Doctor and Kayla stayed on the sidelines as the field base bustled around them. They were waiting, waiting, and waiting for Donna's call, but as the time kept ticking down, Kayla couldn't help but wonder if the Doctor was as concerned for Donna as she was.

Why hadn't she called? Was she still alive, or had the Sontarans gotten her? She had thought she had seen the TARDIS door close once the Doctor had delivered his message to her, but now she wasn't so sure.

"She'll be fine," the Doctor said suddenly, his voice low, "I have a plan."

"And what is that plan?" Kayla shot back, her voice a mere whisper.

Instead of responding, the Doctor just pursed his lips and, in a sharp movement, grabbed a clipboard from the Martha clone, which Kayla was far too embarrassed to admit that she had not noticed until then.

"There's carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides but 10% unidentified. Some sort of artificial heavy element we can't trace. You ever seen anything like it?" The clone rattled off, not at all phased by the clipboard's sudden removal.

"Must be something the Sontarans invented. This isn't just poison, they need this gas for something else. What could that be?"

Perhaps they would have figured out the answer, then and there, but any thinking was cut off by Captain Price's sudden announcement that the launch grid was online and  _active._

"Positions ladies and gentlemen, Defcon One initiatives in progress."

"What?!" The Doctor cried out, a cry echoed by Kayla just seconds after, "I told you not to launch!"

Col. Mace turned, a hard expression on his face, "The gas is at 60% density, 80% and people start dying, Doctor. We've got no choice."

"Launching in 60, 59, 58, 57, 56… Worldwide nuclear grid now co-ordinating. 54, 53..."

Just as earlier with the gas, Kayla could only step back, horrified, as destruction was about to rain down, but this time Kayla knew there would be no person to come in and stop the destruction; Earth, in Kayla's opinion, was doomed.

* * *

**I forgot how dramatic Doctor Who can get when it comes to the fate of the world. Torchwood definitely had its relationship drama, but it only had fate of the world stuff for the season final. It'd be interesting to see Doctor Who go that direction, but I'd also be interested in Doctor Who going any direction other than what it did this season. I love Jodie as the Doctor, but the writing was horrible.**

**As for this chapter, I'm pleased with it. I've gotten a lot better at keeping one scene going for a long time instead of cutting back and forth and I think that really showed in this chapter.**


	16. The Poison Sky Pt. 2

A small part of Kayla had hoped that being around the Doctor again would make her realize how much she had missed traveling with him. They were Bonded and they loved each other, so why  _shouldn't_ she want to be around him?

The small part of herself, like so many other parts, was let down by her hope. This entire visit had reminded her just how horrible it was; all Torchwood had to be concerned with was Cardiff with occasional bouts of saving Earth, but the Doctor had to save the Earth every damn day, and that was stressful! So, so, very stressful.

And Kayla, at that very moment, was very stressed. UNIT was about to throw a nuclear weapon at the Sontaran ship, having ignored the Doctor's express order to  _not_ do that because it would do nothing except push the Sontarans to war…a war that even the Doctor could grudgingly admit would be "okay," at least by Intergalactic standards. While the Sontarans had no right to mess with a Category 3 planet, Earth fighting back would allow the Sontarans to fight back, and there was no way Earth and its pitiful forces of apes could ever win.

Despite the overwhelming stress, a stress so horrible Kayla felt as if she was being suffocated and couldn't help but shake ever so slightly, the Doctor still tried to fight the actions of UNIT, "You're making a mistake, Colonel! For once, I hope the Sontarans are ahead of you."

Col. Mace ignored him, acting as if he was intently listening as Captain Price rattled off country after country, all armed and coordinated with their nuclear weapons waiting to wipe out the alien threat; that left only one thing UNIT had to check off…the countdown to launching.

Kayla heard Col. Mace breath in sharply as the countdown started, and he muttered in a whisper Kayla could only hear thanks to not being human, "God save us."

Several things happened at once when Captain Price finally reached the ill-fated "0." The Martha clone, a smirk that was barely covered by the appropriate face of alarm, slipped a PDA back into her pocket, everyone else took a sharp intake of breath, and anticlimactically, the screens turned off.

"What is it? What happened? Did we launch? Well, did we?" Col. Mace asked, not giving Captain Price enough time to respond in between the questions, let alone enough time to gather the appropriate information  _for_ his questions.

Pausing, either to collect herself or to make sure her data was correct, Captain Price finally answered, "Negative, sir. The launch codes have been wiped, sir. It must be the Sontarans."

"Can we override it?"

The eagerness in Col. Mace's voice set Kayla's teeth on edge, and one glance to her side told her that the Doctor had a similar reaction. Captain Price, in her usual strict professionalism, did  _not_ respond with the same vigor, "Trying it now, sir."

"Missiles wouldn't even dent that ship, so why are the Sontarans so keen to stop you?" The Doctor mused quite suddenly, causing several eyes to flick to him. Kayla could only bite her lip with frustration when the Doctor turned to the Martha clone, who did  _not_ know that they knew she was a clone, and asked, "Any ideas?"

The Martha clone's face shifted from anger to confusion so quickly Kayla thought that she had seen the first expression incorrectly, but one response, shaking every so slightly, told her she had seen perfectly fine, "How should I know?"

There was no answer the Doctor or Kayla could give to the Martha clone to brush off her question, so all they did was just shrug half-heartedly. Arching an eyebrow, the clone walked off, and for a moment, the Doctor and Kayla could just relax for a bit.

And then Ross' voice came over the radio, frantic and pitched with fear,  _"Enemy within! At arms! Greyhound 40 declaring absolute emergency. Sontarans within factory grounds, east corridor grid six."_

Kayla had to give credit for Col. Mace for his quick actions. While she was still processing and trying to figure out what would be the best option, Col. Mace leapt over to the radio and started to shout orders into it, "Absolute emergency, declaring Code Red. All troops, Code Red!"

"Get them out of there!" The Doctor yelled, but he was ignored by Col. Mace, who instead ordered the troops to open fire.

Only a few seconds after the order was given, Ross' voice came back with another horrible message,  _"The guns aren't working. Inform all troops, standard weapons do not work,"_ he paused, but Kayla thought she was able to hear screams in the background,  _"Tell the Doctor and Kayla it's that Cordolaine signal. They're the only ones who can stop them."_

Kayla was touched by Ross' inclusion of her, which just made it worse when the radio started to sound static, indicating that the line – that Ross – was dead.

"Greyhound 40, report. Over. Greyhound 40, report. Greyhound 40, report!" Col. Mace yelled over the static, but of course there was no answer.

Kayla didn't even try to control herself. She marched towards Col. Mace and grabbed him by the collar, not caring about the obvious pain the action was causing him when she pulled him down, "He's  _dead,_ and everyone else will be  _dead_ if you don't. Get. Them. OUT!"

Despite being far shorter than Col. Mace, by the time Kayla was done screaming at him he looked terrified. As soon as Kayla let go of his collar, though she remained standing near him in silent warning, Col. Mace slowly spoke into the radio, a croak in his voice, "Trap One to all stations. Retreat. Order imperative, immediate retreat!"

Outside of the field base, they could hear the chaos outside as bullets were fired, men and women ran yelling the retreat order, and weapons from the Sontarans were discharged. It did not take a genius to guess where the outcome of this battle was headed, so when Col. Mace turned to the Doctor and Kayla with a shadow on his face and informed them that the factory had been taken by the Sontarans, neither Time Lord was shocked.

"Why? They don't need it. Why attack now? What are they up to?" The Doctor wondered aloud, his hand going through his hair as he frantically thought. When no one else offered a guess, the Doctor shook his head, "Times like this, I could do with the Brigadier," he paused and then added quickly, "No offence."

"None taken. Sir Alistair's a fine man, if not the best. Unfortunately, he's stranded in Peru," Col. Mace said dryly, hardly giving the Doctor a glance as he spoke.

Nodding briskly, though a smile was across his face, the Doctor turned his attention back to the screen which had only  _just_ gotten the launch grid back thanks to Captain Price. Kayla noted a slight movement from the Martha clone and the screen went black.

Only this time, Captain Price turned to Col. Mace a fierce expression on her face, "They're inside the system, sir. It's coming from within UNIT itself."

"Trace it. Find out where it's coming from, and quickly," he ordered. As Captain Price got to work, he asked with far less confidence, "Gas levels?"

"66% in major population areas. And rising."

Shaking his head, Col. Mace turned to the Doctor and posed a question of his own, "Why are they defending the factory only after we were inside?"

"They must want UNIT here," Kayla offered, though her answer was only a guess, a reasonable guess, to be fair, but still only a guess, "There must be something they need that's now in the factory; something important."

Col. Mace nodded, "Then we've got to recover it. This Cordolaine signal thing, how does it work?"

"The bullets. It causes expansion of the copper shell," the Doctor answered.

For the first time since the entire situation had started, Col. Mace had a slight smile on his face, though it was a dark a bitter one, "Excellent. I'm on it."

As he started to leave, the Doctor started after him, "For the billionth time, you can't fight Sontarans!"

When Col. Mace ignored him, the Doctor continued out of the main area as well. After a small second where Kayla subtly looked around her surroundings, she followed the Doctor as well. She knew he noticed her, mainly because he briefly glanced up, but he was too focused on dialing in a number in the cell phone Kayla  _knew_ he didn't know and holding it to his ear.

She was surprised when she felt the Doctor trying to contact her mentally, but she still allowed the connection to be made; as soon as she did so, she could hear Donna's voice, a mere echo from the Doctor's side, frantically hissing,  _'What's happened, where are you?'_

"Still on Earth. But don't worry, I've got my secret weapon," the Doctor answered in a hushed voice.

' _What's that?'_

"You."

' _Oh,'_ Donna paused and then started to ramble,  _'Somehow that's not making me happy. Can't you just zap us down to Earth with that remote thing?'_

"Yeah, I haven't got a remote, though I really should. But I need you on that ship. That's why I made them move the TARDIS. I'm sorry, but you've got to go outside."

' _But there's Sonterruns out there.'_

"Sontarans," the Doctor corrected automatically, "but they'll all be on battle stations right now. They don't walk around having coffee. I can talk you through it."

' _But what if they find me?'_

It hurt Kayla to hear the fear in Donna's voice, and hurt her when she heard the slight fear in the Doctor's voice as well, "I know, and I wouldn't ask, but there's nothing else I can do. The whole planet is choking, Donna."

There was a long sigh on the other end, and Kayla knew that Donna was going to do it. Her ask of what she needed to do only seconds later confirmed her suspicions.

"The Sontarans are inside the factory which means they've got a teleport link with the ship, but they'll have deadlocked it. I need you to reopen the link."

' _But I can't even mend a fuse!'_

Kayla was surprised when she felt the Doctor's own emotions weighing on that statement. He  _hated_ when Donna talked badly about herself and had clearly linked it to her mother's less than kind words in the past. Without truly meaning to, Kayla couldn't help but wonder what she would have done for Donna's confidence had she stayed with the Doctor – she quickly sent that thought away guiltily. She had made her choice when it came to the Doctor, and fantasizing about a different life would do nothing but harm herself in the long run.

She forced herself to pay attention to the conservation that was still occurring between the Doctor and Donna. The Doctor had gotten Donna to look at the surrounding around the TARDIS, but she had quickly reported that there was a Sontaran outside. Donna had been convinced to knock out the Sontaran via the Probic Vent in the back, but she had not replied in a bit and the Doctor was starting to get anxious…

' _Back of the neck!'_

"Now then you gotta find the external junction feed to the teleport," the Doctor reported, his relief palpable through their link and through the tone of his voice.

There was a pause and then Donna hissed,  _'What...what's it look like?'_

"A circular panel on the wall. Big symbol on the front, like a, like a letter T with a horizontal line through it. Or, or two Fs back to back."

' _Well, there's a door.'_

"Should be a switch by the side."

' _Yeah there is,'_ Donna agreed,  _'But it's Sontaran-shaped, you need three fingers.'_

The Doctor frowned and looked down at his hand, wiggling the fingers experimentally, " _You've_ got three fingers," he said slowly.

' _Oh, yeah!_

The Doctor shook his head, though a small smile was on his face as Donna victoursly announced that she was through the door. His smile grew to a beam and he brought the phone up to his lips to kiss it, "Oh, you are brilliant, you are."

Even though Donna told him shut up, there was an affectionate note to it,  _'Right. T with a line through it.'_

The sound of Col. Mace returning made the Doctor and Kayla stiffen, "Got to go. Keep the line open!" The Doctor managed to hiss before he and Kayla had to turn to face Col. Mace standing there.

"Counter-attack!"

"You won't stand a chance," Kayla snapped.

She was not surprised when Col. Mace ignored her in favor of continuing to order everyone to their positions, however, when a gas mask was thrown in her direction, which she caught half-hazardly, she could only blink down at it. When she looked over to her left, the Doctor had one as well, and he too had a fish-like 'O' on his face.

"You're not going without me!" The Martha clone announced to the Doctor and Kayla as she approached them, her arms crossed in a defiant gesture that was nowhere near what the actual Martha would do.

"Wouldn't dream of it," the Doctor replied dryly.

* * *

Everyone, including the Doctor, Kayla, and the Martha clone, ended up outside the ATMOS factory with gas masks. Proudly, and perhaps bravely – stupidly, Kayla corrected – Col. Mace came over to the Doctor with a high-end gun, "Latest firing stock, what do you think, Doctor?"

"Are you my mummy?"

The familiar phrase, even with the Doctor's higher-pitched mockery, made Kayla shiver and cross her arms. That had been the first time she had met the Doctor, back when she and Jack were two con artists fresh from the horrors of the Time Agency, back when Jack wasn't immortal, back when she was human.

She wondered if she would have made the same decisions knowing the heartbreak it would lead her to.

She squeezed her arm tightly, the pain allowing her to focus once again on her surroundings. Unsurprisingly, the Doctor was protesting the use of guns against the Sontarans; not only because they wouldn't work, but also because there was no way the soldiers could see thanks to the fog obscuring all vision, even the night-vision.

"Thank you Doctor, thank you for your lack of faith. But this time, I'm not listening," and with that, Col. Mace turned on his heel, ripped off his gas mask, and started to address the waiting soldiers, "Attention, all troops! Sontarans might think of us as primitive. As does every passing species with an axe to grind. They make a mockery of our weapons, our soldiers, our ideals. But no more! From this point on, it stops. From this point on, the people of Earth fight back and we show them! We show the warriors of Sontar what the human race can do! Trap One to Hawk Major! Go, go, go!"

But no one moved as instead, a huge sound came from the sky. Everyone looked up and tried to peer desperately through the fog, trying to figure out whether or not it was a friend or a foe. It was only as the fog started to clear from whatever was hoovering above them did Kayla see a familiar ship of the skies, it's engines running to clear away the fog.

"It's working! The area's clearing. Engines to maximum!"

"It's the  _Valiant!"_

Col. Mace turned to the Doctor with a proud, proud expression, "UNIT Carrier Ship  _Valiant_  reporting for duty, Doctor! With engines strong enough to clear away the fog."

Feeling constrict, Kayla ripped her gas mask off and took in a deep, long breath of fresh air. It didn't make the feeling go away, but she could ignore it in favor of the pain she was causing herself by squeezing her arm repeatedly.

It was a temporary fix, and one she knew would not help her in the long run, but just being around the  _Valiant_ was enough for her to seek desperate measures to ignore the memories that it brought up. Memories of drums and death and destruction…

" _Valiant,_ fire at will!"

At least, Kayla thought desperately to herself at the familiar sounds of the  _Valiant_ firing down and hurting others, it was killing someone that was attacking and not peaceful, desperate people who just wanted one more ration of food for their starving family.

She jumped when she felt the Doctor place his arm around her shoulder, but she quickly relaxed into the familiar situation. He was smart enough to not bother asking if she was okay and instead focused on fixing the problem, which was removing her from the  _Valiant_ as quickly as possible.

It helped that they needed to get the real Martha back anyways, and it also helped that the real Martha would be right next to their way of getting the TARDIS and Donna. It was easy for Kayla to just allow the Doctor to pull her along, his sonic screwdriver telling them where to go to get Martha back, the clone following along as they went through the factory to the basement and pushed into the room where…

"Oh Martha, we're so sorry," Kayla breathed out as the sight of Martha in a hypnotic sleep greeted them.

Leaving Kayla slowly, the Doctor went over to Martha and checked her pulse, "Still alive," he informed Kayla.

The familiar sound of a gun being clicked off of safety did little to startle the Time Lords. Kayla looked over at her lazily, "That's not very impressive."

"Wish you two carried a gun now?"

"Not at all," the Doctor gritted out while Kayla just shrugged; the question didn't really apply to her considering she  _did_ carry a gun, she just didn't have it on her at that moment.

"I've been stopping the nuclear launch all this time," The Martha clone gloated.

"He wanted you to do that," Kayla pointed out with a sneer.

"I'm not having Earth start an interstellar war. You're a triple agent!"

Glaring at him, the Martha clone nodded towards the real Martha, "When did you know?"

"Right from the start," Kayla answered, "Martha is our  _friend,_ of course we'd notice when she was acting off!"

"Reduced iris contraction, slight thinning of the hair follicles on the left temple. And, frankly, you smell. You might as well have worn a T-shirt saying 'clone.' Although, maybe not in front of Captain Jack. You remember him, don't you? Cos you've got all her memories. That's why the Sontarans had to protect her, to keep you inside UNIT. Martha Jones is keeping you alive."

Whipping around, the Doctor ripped the device off of the real Martha's head. Jerking, she awoke with a powerful scream echoed by a cry from her clone who crumpled to the ground in agony. While the Doctor tended to Martha by hugging her close, Kayla kicked the gun away from the clone's hand. It skidded across the floor and stilled in a corner Kayla made a mental note to remember.

"There was this thing, Doctor, this alien, with this head..." Martha started, her eyes round and her voice wavering.

At that same moment, the Doctor's phone went off. Taking it out, he slid it across to Kayla. Not waiting for Kayla to agree with her task, the Doctor went back to tending to Martha, which meant the Time Lady had to pick up the phone and say, "The Doctor's helping Martha right now; have you got it?"

" _Yes. Now hurry up!"_ Donna snapped back, the frantic quality to her voice explaining why she didn't bother questioning Kayla.

"Take off the covering. There should be blue switches inside of it; I need you flick them up like…like a fuse box, or whatever you humans call it. That should get the teleport to work."

When Donna confirmed that she understood, Kayla hung up the phone so she could go over and assist the Doctor. Immediately, the Doctor left Martha with Kayla so he could work on the portal. At some point, he had taken off his jacket, and Martha was wearing it over the hospital gown she had been forced into by the Sontarans.

"Help me talk to her."

Even though Kayla didn't respond to Martha, she still found herself helping Martha to her feet and leading her over to the clone. Slowly, Martha sat down next to the clone, who was still laying on the floor in agony. For a moment, Kayla thought about sitting down as well, but the glare the clone gave her was enough for Kayla to stay standing and even step away a bit. Even the illusion of privacy could do much for trusting.

She watched as Martha reached out to touch the clone, only for clone to try and move back and cry out, "Don't touch me!"

"It's not my fault. The Sontarans created you. But...you had all my memories," Martha said slowly, looking down at her clone.

"You've got a brother, sister, mother, and father."

"If you don't help me, they're gonna die."

Kayla could see a small glimmer of liquid in the clone's eye, but she didn't say anything about it as the clone said, "You love them."

"Yes. Remember that?" Martha urged, leaning forwards as she spoke.

"Ask her about the gas," Kayla recommended.

Immediately, the clone glared at the Time Lady, "She's the enemy!"

"Then tell me," Martha urged, "It's not just poison, what's it for? Martha, please!"

Martha's clone coughed before she answered; it sounded wet and sick, "Caesofine concentrate. It's one part of Bosteen, two parts Probic 5."

"Clonefeed! It's clonefeed!" The Doctor cried out.

Kayla knew Martha well enough to know that she probably frowned, her brow furrowing as she tried to think of what that was before finally asking, "What's clonefeed?"

"Like amniotic fluid for Sontarans. That's why they're not invading, they're converting the atmosphere. Changing the planet into a clone world. Earth becomes a great big hatchery. Cos the Sontarans are clones, that's how they reproduce. Give 'em a planet this big, they'll create billions of new soldiers. That gas isn't poison, it's food!" The Doctor exclaimed, and Kayla knew without looking that he was running his hands through his hair as he spoke.

"My heart…" the clone managed to choke out, "It's getting slower."

Kayla titled her head, her arms crossing as she watched Martha try to comfort the clone, which, she supposed, was easy for Martha given she and the clone had the same memories. She wondered vaguely if she should help, but she dismissed that thought. She wouldn't know what to say, and she doubted her appearance would bring the clone comfort.

She felt a small twinge of sadness when the clone died, and Martha carefully closed the clone's eyes. Slowly, and gently, Martha removed her engagement ring from the clone and placed it back in its rightful place. She rose to her feat, wobbling, but steady enough to stand still by herself.

"You alright?" Kayla asked.

Martha gave her a tight smile and jerked her head in a nod; it was a lie and they both knew it, but Kayla didn't question her on it.

It helped that the phone rang. Kayla jumped at the sound and stared at the phone. She glanced back at the Doctor, but one look told her he was still far too busy with the teleport, so she answered it,  _"Doctor?"_

"No, still Kayla."

Donna huffed,  _"Blue switches done,"_ she reported, only to pause and then add in a pitched, quick voice,  _"But they've found me!"_

' _Doctor!'_

' _NOW!'_

The Doctor pointed his sonic at the teleport pad and it activated. Like magic, Donna appeared in the lab. She sprinted off the pad and wrapped her arms around the Doctor, "Have I ever told you how much I hate you?"

Hugging her back briefly, the Doctor pushed his arm out of the constraint and pointed his sonic at the teleport once more, "Hold on, hold on. Get off me, get off me! Gotta bring the TARDIS down."

Once again, the teleport activated, and the TARDIS appeared on the pad, still in perfect condition.

Wordlessly, Kayla made her way to the teleport. She stepped onto it as Donna and Martha and the Doctor followed. It was so strange being close to the TARDIS; she could feel the familiarity reach out to her. Without even thinking about it, she placed a hand on the side closest to her, not listening to the Doctor reveal that they were going to the Rattigan Academy to see the squirrel-faced Luke Rattigan.

* * *

Upon their appearance, they were greeted by Luke Rattigan pointing a gun at them, "Don't tell anyone what I did! It wasn't my fault, the Sontarans lied to me, they..."

The Doctor was the first to react; he stepped of the pad, marched towards Luke, ripped the gun away, and threw it across the room while grounding out that if he saw a gun one more time…

It seemed that this defeat was the last Luke could suffer. He didn't protest as the Doctor led the rest of his group to one of the many empty labs and started to assemble a device found the piece he found there, all the while rambling, "That's why the Sontarans had to stop the missiles, they were holding back. Because, caesofine gas is volatile, that's why they had to use you to stop the nuclear attack. Ground-to-air engagement could've sparked off the whole thing."

Kayla was surprised – and proud; Martha was the companion  _she_ had helped with, after all – when Martha actually nodded at the end of what the Doctor had said and asked slowly, "What, like set fire to the atmosphere?"

"Yeah. They need all the gas intact to breed their clone army. And all the time we had Luke here in his dream factory. Planning a little trip, were we?" The Doctor asked Luke snidely.

Luke looked like he wanted to build some sort of defense for himself, but all he could offer was a weak, "They promised me a new world."

"You wanted to terraform their planet so humans could live on it," Kayla started slowly.

"But you needed this!" The Doctor finished, holding his device up, "An atmospheric converter."

* * *

With the Doctor's device done, all that was left was to run through the empty school to the outside. It was still horrible, and the three humans started to cough instantly at the gas around them. Even Kayla could feel a weight in her chest; with just a bit more gas she knew she and the Doctor would start to have difficulty breathing and the humans would start to die.

"That's London. You can't even see it. My family's in there," Donna gasped out, her speech interrupted by dry, hacking coughs.

"If I can get this on the right setting..."

"Doctor, hold on, you said the atmosphere would ignite," Martha pointed out slowly.

"It'll work out Martha, I promise," Kayla reassured.

Nodding, though her arms still crossed with evident concern, the group watched as the Doctor pressed a button; a flame was sent into the sky and it ignited, burning away all the gas. Only Kayla could hear the Doctor whispering "please" repeatedly to himself as the sky continued to burn. Atmospheric devices like the one the Doctor had built were complicated, and any amount of errors could occur with a  _well-built_ one, never mind the hasty one the Doctor had built.

It worked though, as they had all known it would. The gas disappeared and the fire that had once lit up the sky slowly faded away into a distant memory the humans would talk about - that time the world choked for a few minutes, but the sky burnt, and it was fixed. Perhaps global warming was the cause? – Life would go on for the hapless humans, but they still had work to do.

It was why the Doctor picked up the atmospheric converter and fled inside with Kayla on his heels and the humans following them all the way to the teleport pod that the Doctor stepped on. Wordlessly Kayla did the same. For a moment, a look passed between the two, a look that's significance was lost on all but Martha.

' _Are you sure?'_

' _We're Bonded Doctor. If you die up there then I'll die down on Earth. At least this way we'll die together.'_

Giving her a wane smile, the Doctor turned his gaze to the humans, "Right, so...Donna, thank you. For everything. Martha, you too. Oh...so many times. Luke, do something clever with your life."

"You're saying goodbye," Donna realized.

"The Sontarans are prepping for war," Kayla pointed out.

"I've recalibrated this for Sontaran air, so..."

"You're gonna ignite them," Martha said slowly.

"You two will kill yourselves!"

"Just send that thing up, on its own. I don't know...put it on a delay."

"Oh Martha," at the tone in her voice, Martha's eyes widened as she took in the Time Lady; there were unshed tears in it, tears that she was sure the Doctor didn't notice, "You know the Doctor would never do that."

"I've got to give them a choice," the Doctor agreed.

Before anyone else could protest, the Doctor soniced the teleport and they disappeared, reappearing on the Sontaran ship.

Staal smiled a gleeful, horrible smile at their appearance, "Oh, excellent!"

"General Staal, you know what this is. But there's one more option. You can go. Just leave. Sontaran High Command need never know what happened here," the Doctor threatened, the device prominently displayed for the Sontarans to take in and know  _exactly_ what they were being threatened with.

"Your stratagem would be wise if Sontarans feared death. But we do not. At arms!"

"I'll do it, Staal. If it saves Earth, I'll do it."

"A warrior doesn't talk, he acts!"

"Staal, you have one more chance to leave," Kayla promised.

"And miss the glory of this moment?"

The tension rose as a loudspeaker announced that all weapons were targeting Earth and firing in 20 seconds.

20 seconds, Kayla realized as she bit her lip, for her to live. Just as she had dreams – nightmares – of, Kayla was going to die standing next to the Doctor for actions she didn't truly agree with.

At least this real-life version didn't have her orphaning their child on Earth with humans who would never truly understand them.

"Shoot me, I'm still gonna press this! You'll die, Staal."

"Knowing that you and your Bonded will die, too."

Staal threw his head back as he started to chant, "Sontar-ha!" The cry echoed around, repeating from all the Sontarans nearby.

It seemed like the entire fleet was chanting by the time the Doctor yelled, "I'll do it!"

"Then do it!"

And then jarringly, terrifyingly, the two Time Lords disappeared and reappeared on the teleport pad in Rattigan's office. It didn't take long for them to realize what had happened; what Luke had scarified for them to be there, breathing.

They sat, shaking on the edge of the platform. The Doctor's arm went around Kayla and pulled her in. Slowly, Donna approached the Doctor and Martha approached Kayla. The two humans sat, their arms going around the two shaken Time Lords and holding them.

* * *

When everything was said and done, Kayla found herself back in the TARDIS with the Doctor, but only for a brief visit. Martha had wanted to see the console room, Donna had needed to say goodbye to her family, and Kayla…

Kayla didn't want to say goodbye to the Doctor just yet.

She would never admit that, of course, so she hand-waved her explanation as wanting to stick with Martha; they had an appointment with Torchwood, after all.

The Doctor had stiffened at the institutes name and hadn't questioned her, as Kayla knew he would react. It made her uncomfortable – sad – when the Doctor didn't press her, didn't offer to let her stay.

But wasn't that what she wanted?

The arrival of Donna proved to be a welcome distraction to the confusion on Kayla's head. She quickly offered a place for Martha and Kayla, and of course, they declined.

The two set off, giving their goodbyes before, and started for the door…

And then shit hit the fan and the two women fell to the floor as the TARDIS started to take off, shaking as it did so.

"What? What!?"

"Doctor!"

Somehow, Kayla managed to crawl over to the console. She used it to pull herself up the same way the Doctor did and started to try and pilot it, trying to make the TARDIS return to home.

"It's out of control!" Kayla cried out.

"Doctor, Kayla, just listen to me! You take me home, take me home right now!"

* * *

**I love Martha, especially after she left the Doctor and became a complete badass. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter mainly because I like Martha and Kayla together. I can see Kayla thinking of Martha as if she's her daughter, but more of an adult daughter that she knows she cannot control. I don't know if I showed that in this chapter, but I think I do a better job in the later chapters.**

**I'm finally done with college applications, so I've been writing a lot more. I'm nearly done with this book, which is such a relief to say, because next is Galaxy which I know will go quickly. Clearly, I did not do the schedule I had for this year, but I fully believe that I will be able to catch up.**


	17. The Doctor's Daughter Pt. 1

Donna and Martha were screaming, sparks were flying, the TARDIS was shaking, and Kayla and the Doctor were trying desperately to pilot the TARDIS so they could have a bit of control and hopefully, though very unlikely, get the TARDIS to stop and still.

"What the hell's it doing?" Donna asked, a hint of hoarseness in her voice thanks to the powerful screaming she had been doing.

"Control's aren't working!" The Doctor shouted back.

Kayla made to try again with one of her controls, but it sparked angrily at her and she fell back, wrenching her hand away only moments before it would have been hit. Across the console, the Doctor experienced a similar reaction, both from the TARDIS and by himself when he too moved back from the console. Now  _no one_ was piloting the TARDIS, which, Kayla thought, didn't really matter considering she and the Doctor were less than effective so far.

Not bothering to chime in on the discussion Donna, Martha, and the Doctor were having about his hand, Kayla pulled herself back up on the console and started to try and pilot  _again._ The Doctor soon joined her and together, the two Time Lords tried to stop the last TARDIS from killing them all in a sudden rebellion.

They only somewhat failed. They didn't die, and the TARDIS didn't die, but they still landed roughly on an unfamiliar place and the TARDIS did  _not_ seem like it was going to help them take off anytime soon.

Kayla wished she was more surprised when wordlessly, and with a giddy smile, the Doctor rushed to the door and exited outside; of course, Donna and Martha soon followed which meant that Kayla  _had_ to follow. She doubted the Doctor would be able to keep up with  _one_ companion, let alone two.

"Why would the TARDIS bring us  _here?"_

The question from the Doctor aptly fit Kayla's first impression of their location as well. They were in an underground tunnel with junk and old equipment scattered about. It was nowhere  _she_ recognized, and the confusion on the Doctor's face told her that he too had no clue where they were either.

Slowly, Kayla stepped up next to the Doctor. She thought about taking his hand – it was what they used to do all the time and why would one regeneration change that – but she decided better on it when he  _licked_ them for some unknown reason.

Kayla stiffened, hearing a slight noise; boots, many boots from the sound, were headed in their direction. She glanced at the Doctor, who was tilting his head to try and get a better read on the noise, but it turned out there was no need for the struggle, because only a few seconds later the noise got much, much louder. They all looked in its direction, only to see soldiers hurrying towards them, their weapons ready as they confronted this hostile, new element.

"Don't move, stay where you are! Drop your weapons," One man yelled, his gun pointing at them in a quickly formed circle.

Kayla put her hands up, the same way the Doctor, Donna, and Martha did. Even if she  _did_ have a weapon, she would have done the same action because they were encircled by guns; what choice did she have?

Of course, the Doctor rambled that they had no guns, were safe, and the normal rubbish he did when people threatened them, and the Doctor couldn't get out of the threat. Kayla doubted Donna heard the anxiety in the Doctor's voice as he spoke, and Martha was too focused on staying calm to notice either. The only reason Kayla noticed was because she knew the Doctor so well that any shift in his usual tone was plain for her to hear.

"Look at their hands. They're clean," one of the soldiers cried out.

The man who had yelled the first order eyed the hands, all still lifted and then jerked at the Doctor, "Alright, process them! Him first."

Two soldiers moved forwards and grabbed the Doctor and started to drag him towards a strange machine Kayla had originally passed off as junk.

"Oi, oi! What's wrong with clean hands?!"

"What's going on?"

"Leave him alone!"

The only person who didn't yell out anything was Kayla, not because she wanted to, but because the only ways she could get the others to calm down – to not die – was if she said nothing. It was easier said than done, but at least the shouts Kayla was saying in her head were helping.

' _Kayla, if something happens to me-'_

' _Get the humans to safety, I know.'_

' _That includes you too, Kayla.'_

Kayla crossed her arms and turned ever so slightly; she was too far away from the TARDIS to do anything, and the soldiers around them did not seem like bluffers. If something did happen to the Doctor, and she had to get the humans – and herself – to safety, they would have to do a long con and cooperate until they could escape.

A cry of pain, pain that was echoed to herself, made Kayla spin around to see the Doctor's hand in the machine. It was 'processing' him, whatever that meant, but all Kayla could tell that it was painful. She couldn't help but wince as something especially hard sliced into the Doctor's hand. Stupidly, she looked down at her own hand, imagining a line going across it in a mirror of the one now across the Doctor's hand, but there was nothing there.

Bonded felt each other's pain, but they didn't receive the same wounds.

"It's taken a tissue sample. Ow ow ow ow ow ow! And extrapolated it! Some kind of accelerator?"

The machine released him and the Doctor quickly stepped back, his good hand going to cradle his injured one. Kayla sprinted towards him, followed closely by Donna and Martha; the soldiers, surprisingly, didn't move to block them, but Kayla would worry about why they wanted  _them_ next to the machine later.

"Are you alright?" Martha asked; ever the doctor, she was already examining his hand, flipping it over.

But Kayla, Donna, and the Doctor were  _not_ doctors – or, in the case of the Doctor, an  _actual_ doctor – which meant they were watching the machine as it opened and a woman, blonde haired, blue eyed, and fully dressed in matching clothes to the soldiers, stepped out of the machine. Her eyes were wide and she tilted her head, taking in the area with a calculating, yet curious expression.

An expression, Kayla realized with a heavy jolt, that the Doctor was wearing as well.

"Arm yourself!"

The order, nor the gun that was thrusted to her along with it, did not surprise the woman. She took it and examined it quickly, handling it in an expert way that even some of the Torchwood team hadn't gotten to.

"Where did she come from?" Martha wondered.

"From me," the Doctor choked out.

Of course, this announcement led to protests from Donna and Martha, which led the Doctor to struggle to explain, "Well... she's... well... she's my daughter!"

Done with her gun, the blonde haired woman – the Doctor's, and  _only_ the Doctor's daughter – looked up and gave the group, though her eyes were primarily on the Doctor, a grin that was near twins to the one Kayla had been given from the Doctor when he had flustered her, "Hello dad!"

The Doctor spluttered at the greeting, but the girl ignored him in favor of turning to the other soldiers and giving them the same smile, a smile the others did not return, "You primed to take orders, ready to fight?"

"Instant mental download of all strategic and military protocols, sir. Generation 5000 soldier primed and in peak physical health. Oh, I'm ready."

"Did you say, daughter?" Donna asked, turning away from the spectacle that was the Doctor's daughter in favor of getting actual information.

"Mm, technically," the Doctor hummed.

"Technically  _how?"_ Martha pressed.

"Progenation. Reproduction from a single organism. Means one parent is biological mother and father. You take a sample of diploid cells, split them into haploids, then recombine them in a different arrangement, and grow. Very quickly, apparently."

"Oh," Martha frowned and then, with a knowing smirk thrown in Kayla's direction, she asked slyly, "So does that mean she  _isn't_ Kayla's daughter too?"

"Of course not," Kayla snapped over the Doctor's less than helpful spluttering, "The only way that could have happened is if I had touched the Doctor's hand for…for a long time. Just because we're Bonded doesn't mean that we share everything."

"Yeah…and she  _not_ my daughter; not really."

Kayla could tell that Donna wanted to protest, and she opened her mouth to do so, but then the blonde haired woman cried out, "Something's coming!"

The group turned to look in the direction she was pointing, only to see fish-like humanoids with odd, bubbling apparatus on their heads marching very, very quickly towards with…

"Hide.  _Now."_

There was little to hide behind, but Kayla's warning did allow the group to at least have an attempt to get away from the approaching hostiles, the Hath according to one of the soldier's shouts, but it was in vain. In the chaos of the battle, Martha was grabbed by one of the Haths. Kayla heard her shout and she tried to make it over, but the battle blocked her from getting over.

She could only cry out Martha's name, but even that was drowned out by the rest of the fight. Powerless, all Kayla could do was to keep trying over and over again, but quite suddenly, she found herself in the Doctor's arms, urgently getting pulled away. She could vaguely hear someone, maybe the Doctor or maybe someone else, yell for them to not detonate something, that Martha was still gone.

Suddenly, she was on the ground, a weight overhear as the world shook fiercely and an loud boom sounded; an explosion.

Once it was over, the Doctor helped Kayla up from the ground. He checked her over, nodded to himself, and then checked over Donna as well. Satisfied they were both okay, he turned on the nearest solider, which happened to be his not-daughter/daughter, "You've sealed off the tunnel. Why did you do that?!"

"They were trying to kill us!"

"But they've got my friend!"

"Collateral damage. At least you've still got them, he lost both his men."

Kayla stepped forward to get involved, but Donna's quick retort beat her to it, "Her name's Martha, and she's not collateral damage, not for anyone! Have you got that, GI Jane?!"

Ignoring the way the woman's face broke at the snarl, the Doctor turned to face Kayla and Donna with a grim expression, "I'm gonna find her."

The click of a gun, however, made them turn to see one of the soldiers pointing his gun at them, "You're not going anywhere. You don't make sense, you three. No guns, no mark, no fight in you…I'm taking you to General Cobb. Now, move."

* * *

They didn't have much of a choice, so they went where the soldiers pointing the guns made them go. The Doctor's not-daughter/daughter somehow ended up next to them, still holding her gun casually at her side as they walked.

Unsurprisingly, Donna had gotten over her anger at "GI Jane," and had started to make bridges to her, "I'm Donna, what's your name?"

The woman shrugged, "Don't know, it's not been assigned."

"Well, if you don't know that, what do you know?"

"How to fight."

"Nothing else?"

"The machine must only embed military history and tactics; anything that could be important for a war. A name…that isn't important."

"She's a generated anomaly," the Doctor agreed with Kayla, a distinct and forced lack of emotion in the words.

It seemed the Doctor was still very bad at trying pretend that he wasn't bothered by something.

Kayla frowned as Donna instantly dubbed the woman with a name based on the Doctor's remark. The name, Jenny, was nice but…it wasn't what the Doctor and  _she_ would have named their daughter.

But this wasn't her daughter, was it? It was the Doctor's; she had nothing to do it with. In another universe, an alternative universe, Jenny could have been theirs, but even then, Jenny wouldn't be their daughter still. They had a kid, a kid Kayla had never gotten to meet and hold and…

' _Ky.'_

When nothing came after that breath-like noise that slid across her mind, Kayla could only conclude that she had heard wrong and the Doctor had  _not_ tried to contact her.

* * *

She didn't focus back in until they had reached a huge underground room filled with soldiers bustling about in a mad dash to get to the next spot and the next fight.

"So, where are we? What planet's this?"

The leader of the group of soldiers who had forcibly led them answered the Doctor's question after scoffing at the existence of it, "Messaline. Well, what's left of it."

The speaker overhead was blasting reports of entire generations wiped out as Kayla slowly turned to take in the room. There was something odd about it, maybe it was because there was a stage in the middle, or maybe it was because the windows high up were covered with dirt. Just how below ground were they?

"But, this a theater!" Donna suddenly noted, an observation that explained why there was a stage in a middle of a war base.

"Maybe they're doing Miss Saigon," the Doctor suggested, a frustrated note to the joke that undercut the humor.

Not even looking over at him, Donna hit the Doctor on the arm, causing the Time Lord to wince and Kayla to glower at her; it wasn't Donna's fault for not knowing that she could feel the Doctor's pain, but that didn't change the fact that Kayla's arm hurt.

A man approached them; dressed in a similar uniform to the soldier's around him, it was clear that this was the famed General Cobb they had been taken to meet.

"Found in the Western tunnels, I'm told, with no marks. There was an outbreak of pacifism in the Eastern Zone, three generations back, before we lost contact, is that where you came from?" The man asked. Kayla frowned at his phrasing – who described time through  _generations –_ but didn't comment.

"Eastern Zone, that's us, yeah. Yeah. I'm The Doctor, this is Kayla, and this is Donna."

"And I'm Jenny," the Doctor's not-daughter/daughter chimed in.

General Cobb eyed them, "Don't think you can infect us with your peacemaking. We're committed to the fight, to the very end."

"It doesn't matter; we have to find our friend," Kayla brushed off, her arms crossing as General Cobb turned his glare to her.

"That's not possible, all movement is regulated. We're at war."

Kayla scoffed loudly, earning herself a stronger glare, "With the Hath. Yes, we've noticed."

"'Cos we got a bit out of circulation, Eastern Zone and all that, so, who exactly are the Hath?"

General Cobb rolled his eyes before he bothered to answer, "Back at the dawn of this planet, these ancient halls were carved from the earth. Our ancestors dreamt of a new beginning, a colony where human and Hath could work and live together," when the Doctor asked what happened, Cobb scoffed and shook his head, "The dream died. Broken, along with Hath promises. They wanted it all for themselves. But those early pioneers, they fought back. They used the machines to produce soldiers instead of colonists, and began this battle for survival."

"There's nothing but earth outside, why's that? Why build everything underground?"

The solider who had brought them there eyed Donna skeptically, "The surface is too dangerous," he said slowly, his tone sounding like the one a parent would use when they're addressing a small, annoying child who kept asking stupid questions.

Donna, not oblivious to the tone, bristled and shot back, "Well, then why build windows in the first place?" When the solider elected to not respond, Donna pointed to a carved in list of numbers and letters above them, "And what does this mean?"

"The rites and symbols of our ancestors. The meanings...lost in time."

"How long has this war been going on?" Kayla asked; meaningless symbols hardly held her interest, but then again, the war and this entire planet she was currently on  _also_ didn't hold her interest. Rarely anything did these days.

Like an idiot, General Cobb puffed up at the question, no doubt seeing it as an opportunity to boost about his little war, "Longer than anyone can remember. Countless generations marked only by the dead."

"What, fighting all this time?" Donna protested.

"Because we must. Every child of the machine is born with this knowledge. It's our inheritance, it's all we know. How to fight. And how to die."

Somehow, and Kayla still didn't fully know  _how,_ the Doctor was able to get General Cobb to allow them to look at a map of the planet's tunnels. He had argued it would be easier to allow them to go on their way and General Cobb had relented – not to letting them go, Kayla noted sourly, but just to let them see the map.

Now in front of the hologram map, the Doctor eyed it skeptically, "Does this show the entire city, including the Hath zones?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Well it'll help us find Martha."

The solider who had brought them there scoffed at the mention of Martha, which only served to make Kayla glare at him as he spoke, "We've more important things to do. The Progenation Machines are powered down for the night shift, but soon as they're active, we could breed a whole platoon from you three."

"I'm not having sons and daughters by some great big flippin' machine!" Donna protested loudly, causing several of the soldiers to glance at them. Not wasting her time with them, Donna nodded to Jenny and gave her a half-apologetic look, "Sorry, no offence but you're not... well I mean you're not real."

"You're no better than him!" Jenny snapped with a motion to the Doctor – he, like Kayla, was wisely staying out of the confrontation – "I have a body, I have a mind, I have independent thought, how am I not real? What makes you better than me?"

"Well said, soldier," General Cobb praised. Kayla noted with slight interest that Jenny did not seem to enjoy the praise anymore than she had enjoyed hearing it, "We need more like you if ever we're to find the Source."

"And that is?" Kayla asked, cutting off the Doctor from rambling sentences about the  _name._

"The Breath of Life."

Either seeing the confusion of the time travelers or just wanting to hear his own voice, the solider that had brought them to the head quarters elaborated, "In the beginning the great one breathed life into the universe. And then she looked at what she'd done, and she sighed."

When the Doctor dismissed it as a creation myth, General Cobb shot him a horrified look, "It's not myth. It's real. That sigh. From the beginning of time it was caught and kept as the Source. It was lost when the war started. But it's here, somewhere. Whoever holds the Source controls the destiny of the planet."

When it became very obvious that the Doctor was  _not_ paying attention, General Cobb seemed to bristle with anger that was only subdued when the Doctor soniced the holographic map and  _more_ tunnels appeared.

"See? A whole complex of tunnels, hidden from sight."

"That must be the lost temple. The source will be inside. You've shown us the way! And look, we're closer than the Hath! It's ours!" Turning his back on the Doctor, Donna, and Kayla, General Cobb addressed the solider, "Tell them to prepare to move out. We'll progenate new soldiers on the morning shift, then we march. Once we reach the Temple, peace will be restored at long last."

As the solider ran off to fulfil his orders, the Doctor started to protest, "Um, call me old-fashioned, but if you really wanted peace couldn't you just stop fighting?"

"Only when we have the Source. It'll give us the power to erase every stinking Hath from the face of this planet!"

"When did peace become genocide?" Kayla snapped, "I understand you're at war and all, but all you really have to do is take out the Hath's leaders."

For a moment, General Cobb looked like he agree with Kayla, but just as the Time Lady was about to pat herself on the back for stopping a genocide, the Doctor cut in, "You need to get yourself a better dictionary. When you do, look up death  _or_ genocide. You'll see a little picture of me there and the caption will read 'Over my dead body!'"

Any thought about a different approach stopped in General Cobb's mind; Kayla practically see the little wheels in his head grinding forcibly to a halt at the Doctor's ill-timed words. It made her want to scream at the idiotic Time Lord, and that want only intensified when General Cobb snapped, "And you're the one who showed us the path to victory. But you can consider the irony from your prison cell. Cline, at arms!"

The solider who had brought them there, Cline, pointed his gun at the Doctor, Donna, and Kayla, "Oi, oi oi! All right! Cool the beans Rambo!"

"Take them, I won't have them spreading treason. And if you try anything, Doctor, I'll see that your woman dies first."

Kayla opened her mouth to scoff, but then she noticed that General Cobb  _hadn't_ nodded to her when he identified the Doctor's woman; he had nodded to Donna. Turning her head, she could see how that assumption had been born; the Doctor was standing closer to Donna than he was to herself, and the Doctor and Donna clearly had a better friendship than she and the Doctor had.

Even as the Doctor and Donna opened their mouths to protest, Kayla could feel her hearts breaking. Had she really changed so much that she and the Doctor didn't look like the Bonded couple that was once known to both their enemies and their friends as such?

She hardly fought as they were led to their new cell. She vaguely noted that Jenny had been confined along with them, but that hardly did her emotions any good; as if she wanted to be around the personified reminder of just how separated she and the Doctor were. After all, as the nasty voice in her head repeatedly pointed out, Jenny could have been hers  _and_ the Doctor's if she had just held his hand like she used to.

But even if she had, Kayla reminded herself sternly, Jenny would  _not_ be her daughter. Not in the ways it mattered. She wouldn't have memories of growing up in a TARDIS, of being tucked in at night by the Doctor and read stories by Kayla, of going to distant planets and moons. It was like what Jenny had said when Donna had blanched at the idea of a group fighting constantly; she was born from a machine and all she knew was how to live and how to die. Even if she had come from both hers and the Doctor's DNA, that wouldn't be their child.

Only when she was shoved into the cell did Kayla start to focus in on what was going on around her. There were more meaningless numbers and letters that Donna dutifully noted, "They've got to mean something," she stated, eyeing them critically.

"Makes as much sense as the breath of life story," the Doctor said snidely.

Jenny, who had been standing near the door, turned with a wounded expression, "You mean that's not true?"

"It's just a story; a myth," Kayla informed her.

"Yes, but there could still be something real in that temple, something that's become a myth. A piece of technology, a weapon."

"So the Source could be a weapon and we've just given directions to Captain Nutjob?"

"Oh, yes," the Doctor agreed.

"Not good, is it?" Donna asked dryly.

Shaking his head, the Doctor started to pace back and forth, "That's why we need to get out of here, find Martha and stop Cobb from slaughtering the Hath," turning, he paused when he saw Jenny just standing there, her arms crossed in a way that made him flick over to Kayla, "What, what are you, what are you…what are you staring at?"

"You keep insisting you're not a soldier. But look at you! Drawing up strategies like a proper general."

The Doctor blinked at her a couple of times and then quickly shook his head, "No no, I'm trying to stop the fighting."

"Isn't every solider?"

"Well. I suppose. But that's…that's…technically...I haven't got time for this! Donna, give me your phone! Time for an upgrade!"

Kayla raised an eyebrow as the Doctor soniced Donna's easily given phone. Had he seriously not given her the ability to call people until  _now?_

"And now you've got a weapon!"

Even Kayla sent Jenny a look for that; she could understand what Jenny was doing, but calling a sonic screwdriver a weapon when it clearly was not one was a  _bit_ of a stretch. So was her argument that it was a weapon because, "you're using it to fight back!"

"If that's the case then my shoe is a weapon against the ground," Kayla commented.

Kayla expected Jenny to deflate, but instead she just laughed, "If you're using it fight against the ground, it is," she beamed at the Doctor, "I'm gonna learn so much from you, you are such a soldier!"

Shaking his head, the Doctor waved Donna off to Jenny as he used the ginger companion's phone to call Martha.

Through the mental link, Kayla heard the same information the Doctor did; Martha was with the Hath and the Doctor had unwittingly created a blood bath since both the Hath and the humans were marching to what they thought was the Source. The Doctor instructed Martha to stay where she was if she was safe, but Kayla had a feeling that Martha would do the opposite; she wasn't one to stay away from danger.

* * *

**The Doctor's Daughter is a pretty good filler episode. It does what it needs to do and that's that. I did have a lot of fun writing this chapter, though. It gave me a lot to work with and it also gave Kayla some fun stuff to think about. We're getting very close to the climax - it's the Interlude after this story - and then from there this story wraps up pretty well.**

**I guess you might say we're in the endgame for this story *winkwink nudgenudge.***


	18. The Doctor's Daughter Pt. 2

The Doctor, Donna, Kayla, and Jenny could hear the cheers of the soldiers from their dingy cell. It was cramped with all four of them inside of it, but Kayla figured the soldiers did not care in the slightest; after all, they  _had_ been the ones to lock them in the cell in the first place.

Making a circle gesture with his finger, the group circled up so the soldier at the door couldn't hear them as they spoke, "They're getting ready to move out. We have to get past that guard."

"I can deal with him," Jenny announced just as Kayla was opening her mouth to say the same thing.

Kayla thought about pushing the issue; she was much more qualified than Jenny was, but then she dismissed the idea. It would benefit her relationship with the Doctor if she remained passive.

Like now; the Doctor and Donna were fighting about whether or not Jenny was the Doctor's daughter. Normally, she would step in and tell them to both shut up, but she wanted to be peaceful, so she remained against the wall, her arms crossed as Donna used the Doctor's stethoscope to reveal that Jenny had…

"Two hearts."

Kayla swallowed hard. Jenny had two hearts but she was created to be human; either the machine allowed some of the Doctor's Time Lord abilities to come through, or Jenny was a full Time Lady. A full Time Lady that she wasn't related to.

"You're an echo, that's all. A Time Lord is so much more. A sum of knowledge. A code. A shared history. A shared suffering," he nodded to Kayla, and she came over slowly, cautiously, "Kayla and I are Time Lords…but the rest of it is gone now. All of it. Gone forever."

"What happened?"

"There was a war."

"Like this one?"

The Doctor laughed loudly, the harsh noise ringing through the cell and making Jenny flinch back, "Bigger. Much bigger."

"And you fought? And killed?"

"Yes."

"Then how are we different?"

* * *

Despite the Doctor giving his objections, it was Jenny who distracted the guard. Her methods of distraction were less than orthodox, but no one objected when her fake kiss worked, and they were out of the cell, the guard standing there  _still_ in a daze.

Of course, there was another guard at the end of the hallway they had jogged down. Jenny grabbed her gun, but the Doctor flung his hand out and pressed the weapon down, "Don't you dare!"

"Let me distract this one. I have picked up a few womanly wiles over the years," Donna demanded, stepping in between the two.

For a long moment, the Doctor blinked at her; he squinted and then blanched, "Let's...save your wiles for later. In case of emergency."

Instead of Donna's wiles or Jenny's killing, the Doctor took out a wind-up mouse and sent it down the hallway, past the guard. Shouting out in alarm, the guard followed the mouse away from the hallway, leaving it clear for the group to hurry down, but he was still nearby, and Kayla was closer than anyone else. If the man turned around, they would never escape. So, she knocked him out, sending him to the floor with a painful 'thunk.'

When she rejoined the group, the Doctor sent her a sharp look, "I was gonna distract him, not clobber him!"

"And if he had turned around, Doctor? He would have risen the alarm and we would have  _never_ escaped."

Looking very much like he wanted to protest – Kayla recognized that pose, frown, and look she was receiving – the Doctor just turned away and started to rifle through the guard's pockets until he came upon a hologram. Turning it on, it projected the modified map the Doctor had brought up.

"Wait! This is it. The hidden tunnel. There must be a control panel," the Doctor said, turning to a blank stretch of wall beside a lock door.

Kayla glanced over at Donna, who was marking down another of the numbers while muttering about how they were counting down; she supposed that  _was_ important, and she'd be grateful of Donna's noticing later, but for now, the conversation about some catalogue system or other was just grating on her nerves.

Jenny was  _also_ grating on her nerves. She asked who the Doctor was and when she only got his title, she asked if he  _too_ was an anomaly since he had no name. It made Kayla grit her teeth and want to scream for no reason other than the fact that Jenny was just so…happy.

And alive.

Too focused on her own thoughts, she didn't notice the little flinch the Doctor gave just before he took off the cover of a control panel; it was as if someone had hit him…or some unspoken word had hurt him.

But he quickly covered it up, so when Kayla started to focus on the situation around her, it was as if nothing had happened and everything was how she had left it, escape this time Donna was talking to Jenny about what a Time Lord was "for," "He saves planets, rescues civilizations, defeats terrible creatures. And runs a lot. Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved."

The Doctor cried out in victory as the door masked by wall slid open, revealing a long stretch of tunnel. They couldn't celebrate, though, because General Cobb was shouting out orders close enough that the humans could hear his voice and not just the Time Lord.

"Now, what were you saying about running?"

Their running gave them a slight boost in distance, but it was all taken away when the stretch of tunnel they came upon was revealed to be covered in red beams criss crossing for a long, long way up.

Even as Donna noted that the beams were anything but deadly, the Doctor threw his wind-up mouse into one of the beams and watched as it burst into sparks. He turned to start working on the arming device for it, only to find Kayla starting to fiddle with the controls.

"I could be faster," the Doctor said in lieu of offering her actual help.

"You  _could_ be faster, Kayla repeated, "but I  _know_ am faster."

Glaring at her, the Doctor opened his mouth to retort when he was cut off by Jenny starting to leave their area to try and hold of the soldiers, "Where are you going?"

"I can hold them up."

"No, we don't need any more dead."

"But it's them or us."

Kayla snorted under her breath as the Doctor protested Jenny's view; Jenny was right, in Kayla mind, but it didn't matter what she thought  _or_ what Jenny thought. When there was the inkling of violence, the Doctor would shut down. Even if the other person's argument was right, the Doctor would ignore it. Then people would get hurt or die and the Doctor would act as if it bolstered his side when it just  _didn't._ Those people never would have died if he had let them defend themselves.

She wondered, vaguely, if she always would have gone to Torchwood in the end; even if she had had their child, would she had become so desperate and so, so tired that she ran to Torchwood so she'd be around people she knew would do whatever it took to keep her and her child safe.

' _Ky…'_

Kayla jerked at the whisper, but she quickly shook it off as she listened to the sounds of shots getting fired at Jenny, who was trying to hold off the soldiers; she knew the Doctor's barbed, "Nothing but a soldier," was his way of trying to distance himself from Jenny, but all Kayla could think about was how easily that could be  _her_ the Doctor was talking about.

Frowning at her thought – a fear she would never admit to – Kayla flicked the switch and watched as the beams turned off, leaving their path clear.

"Jenny! Leave it! Let's go!"

Not waiting, the trio ran down the hallway and then turned, watching the tunnel as their was a last gun shot, laughter from Jenny, and then finally, the girl was running towards them with a triumphant grin on her face as the Doctor and Donna urged her to hurry up.

Just as she reached the spot were the beams once were, they reappeared, and Jenny jumped back in alarm.

"No, no, no, no! The circuit's looped back!"

Donna turned to Kayla, "Can't you zap it back again?"

Kayla motioned over to where the controls were on the  _opposite_ side of the beams, "Besides," Kayla huffed once Donna had followed her point to the controls and had made a noise of understanding, "I didn't sonic it."

"They're coming!" Jenny warned suddenly.

"Wait! J-Just...! There isn't...! Jenny, I can't!"

"I'll have to manage on my own. Watch and learn, Father!"

Even as the Doctor started to protest, Jenny backed up and then ran through the beams, flipping through them in a gymnastic routine that got her safely to the other side. Almost immediately, the Doctor enveloped her into a proud hug; the type of hug a parent gives to a child who had aced a test. The smile on his face was so large, that Kayla couldn't help but wonder at the emotions that he was feeling.

What was a parent's pride like?

She could see that it grew when Jenny moved out of the embrace to look him in the eye, "I didn't kill him. General Cobb, I could have kill him, but I didn't. You were right. I had a choice."

The sound of the soldiers and General Cobb arriving made the group turn to face him and glare at him; he just smirked, order his soldiers to get to arms. Even when the Doctor threatened him, he still had that smirk on his face, "One of us is gonna die today and it won't be me."

As the soldiers and Cobb opened fire, the group ran off.

* * *

They were walking down the tunnel when Jenny started to probe into the Doctor's, Donna's, and Kayla's relationship.

"So, you travel together, but you're not...'together?'" She asked Donna.

"What? No, no! No way! No, no. We're friends. That's all. I mean, we're not even the same species, there's probably laws against it."

"The Doctor and I are together," Kayla put in, "We're Bonded," her addition earned her two curious faces, "It means the Doctor and I are basically married."

"Do you travel with him too?"

"I did…things changed, though."

Sensing this was, perhaps, not the conversation Kayla wanted to continue, Jenny started to probe Donna with questions about traveling with the Doctor; it was only after Donna directly questioning him did he actually join in the conversation, all to agree that yes, Jenny would be traveling with them after this adventure.

Kayla tried to be happy for the Doctor and Jenny, she really, really did. But all she could do was stare at the girl who could have been her daughter, who was now going to travel in the TARDIS as her child would have, and she wanted to cry.

Had she focused on what the Doctor and Donna were murmuring to each other, she would have realized the Doctor felt the same pain she was, and she  _wasn't_ alone in this pain. As much as the Time Lord liked to move on and forget, he still remembered every single death.

But she didn't; she remained in her own thoughts until Jenny ran up to them, having run ahead, with a manic beam on her face, "They've blasted through the beams, time to run again. Love the running! Yeah?"

"Love the running," the father-daughter pair shared a smile before they all took off running.

* * *

They ran and ran and ran until they reached a dead end.

"We're trapped."

Kayla shook her head and started to examine the wall that sealed off the tunnel, "There's no turns or anywhere we would have gotten off course; this  _has_ to be the way."

Moving alongside her, the Doctor started to sonic the walls while Kayla pushed at various points until, finally, the Doctor cried out, "I've got it!"

"I can hear them!"

"We're nearly done," Kayla promised.

"They're getting closer!"

"Then get back here!"

"Not yet."

The door slid open and Kayla grabbed Donna and pulled her through while the Doctor got Jenny through the door. Once everyone was inside, the Doctor started to fiddle with a key pad until the door slid shut, blocking off the soldiers just as they were about to go around the corner.

"Oh, that was close!" Jenny breathed, but the same manic grin was on her face.

Kayla couldn't help noticing that the Doctor worn a similar manic grin, "No fun otherwise!"

Jerking her head away from the two, Kayla looked around the hallway of the structure they had walked into. This was supposed to be a temple, but everything in her screamed that it was  _not_ a regular human – or Hath – built temple.

"It's a spaceship," she said as she ran her hand along one of the walls and felt a steady thrum of energy behind it.

"What, the original one? The one the first colonists arrived in?"

"It can't be," Kayla said with a firm shake of her head, "This is still powered-up and running, but the colonists' spaceship would be useless by now."

"Come on!"

They started to jog down the corridor at the Doctor's shout, but they hadn't gotten far when they saw a door similar to the one they had entered through slowly getting cut through. Jenny's knowledge about war came in handy as she quickly identified the technology that was being used to cut through the door as Hath, "And if General Cobb gets through down there, war's gonna break out."

That information only pushed them further, and they quickly reached a ship log the Doctor started up, "' First wave of Human/Hath co-colonisation of planet Messaline,'" he read off.

"So it is the original ship," Jenny noted, making Donna smile with pride.

"'Phase one. Construction,'" the Doctor read out, he paused, his eyes rapidly scanning the screen in front of him, "They used robot drones to build the city," when Donna pressed about the war, the Doctor scrolled through the various logs until he reached the last one, "' Mission commander dead. Still no agreement on who should assume leadership. Hath and humans have divided into factions,'" he looked up and immediately started to speak rapidly, his hand going through his hair, "That must be it! A power vacuum. The crew divided into two factions and turned on each other. Start using the progenation machines and suddenly you've got two armies fighting a never-ending war!"

"Two armies who are now both outside," Jenny reminded, cutting through a  _bit_ of the Doctor's enthusiasm for figuring out why the Hath and the humans were fighting.

"Look at that," Donna said suddenly; her gaze was firmly on the series of numbers at the bottom of the screen with the logs; numbers that were  _very_ similar to the ones that Donna had been carefully writing down through their journey through the tunnels. When the Doctor noted the similarities with a dismissive note in his voice, Donna pressed on, "No, no, no, no, but listen...I spent six months working as a temp in Hounslow Library, and I mastered the Dewey Decimal System in two days flat. I'm good with numbers! It's staring us in the face!"

"What is?" Jenny asked.

"It's the date! Assuming the first two numbers are some big old space date, then you've got year, month, day. It's the other way round, like it is in America!"

"I'm pretty sure Americans do day, month, year," Kayla corrected, her arms crossing as she eyed the date.

"Ohhh! It's the New Byzantine Calendar!" The Doctor suddenly shouted.

"The codes are completion dates for each section. They finish it, they stamp the date on! So the numbers aren't counting down, they're going out, from here, day by day, as the city got built."

The Doctor nodded quickly and sent Donna a very proud smile, "Yes! Oh, good work, Donna!"

"Yeah! But you're, you're still not getting it. The first number I saw back there, was 6012-07-17. Well, look at the date today!"

Kayla glanced at the screen and felt her stomach drop.  _"07-24"_ stood there, all proud and mighty as if it  _wasn't_ just seven days ahead of the first date Donna had seen. It was seven days since war broke out, yet everyone acted as if it was centuries; even people like Cobb who certainly have been alive longer than seven days-

' _Doctor. Cobb knows this already. That's why he was trying to stop us from coming here.'_

The Doctor didn't reply, but Kayla could see him stiffen at her message, even if he didn't shift too much as he quickly explained to the bewildered Jenny how everything she had known about her life was myths.

He quickly got the group running again; the situation had become infinitely more serious now that they were aware of something Cobb did not want them to know. He was likely pressing the myths to the soldiers and getting them to believe that this war had been going for years and years and years. The Doctor, Kayla, Donna, and Jenny were a threat to this myth because they knew the truth.

He was going to try and kill him out of desperation, and desperation was when men were the most dangerous; Kayla knew that to be a fact, for she had once been a desperate soul and she had never been more dangerous than then.

What no one had expected was the appearance of Martha Jones. She was covered with caked on mud, smelled like radiation, yet Kayla still hugged her tightly.

"I should've known you wouldn't stay away from the excitement!" The Doctor cheered after he hugged her.

"Oooh, you're filthy, what happened?!" Donna asked after she had hugged Martha.

"I, erm, took the surface route."

Perhaps that would have sparked a conversation – Jenny's awed noise made it sound like Martha's travel was something to be shocked by – but the sound of the fast approaching soldiers made them cut off whatever conversation, "That's the general! We haven't got much time."

"We don't even know what we're looking for!" Donna protested even as the group started to run.

"Is it me, or can you smell flowers?" Martha suddenly asked.

The Doctor sniffed loudly, "Yes! Bougainvillea! I say we follow our nose!"

With a clearer destination in sight, the group picked up their pace so that they were nearly sprinting as they followed the increasingly strong sent until they reached a greenhouse-like space. It was covered with exotic planets; some, like the palm tree Kayla saw, were from Earth, and some were other-worldly.

But what took the cake of other-worldly items was an item in the middle on a pedestal. It was a glass sphere with a shining gas that moved on its own, floating around in its container.

"Is that the Source?" Donna wondered as the group gathered around it.

"It's beautiful," Jenny breathed.

"What is it?"

"Terraforming! It's a terraforming device!"

"Third generation," Kayla added sharply, the elaboration somehow sounding like a criticism.

"So why are we suddenly in Kew Gardens?"

"Because that's what it does. All this, only bigger. Much bigger! It's in a transit state. Producing all this must help keep it stable before they finally..." the Doctor trailed off as the group very suddenly and loudly, found themselves surrounded. On one end, the Hath stood, and the other, the human soldiers. As soon as either side caught sight of each other, they cocked their guns and prepared to fight; if it wasn't for the Doctor's desperate yells to hold their fire, the group would have been killed just because they were in the middle.

"What is this? Some kind of trap?" Cobb snarled, but all his anger didn't mask the gleam of recognition in his eye that Kayla saw. Just as she had theorized, Cobb knew about the true past, but he had hidden it from his fellow soldiers.

"You said you wanted this war over," the Doctor reminded the man; Kayla hoped she was the only one who could hear the edge of loathing in the Doctor's voice.

"I want this war won," Cobb corrected.

"You can't win. No one can. You don't even know why you're here. Your whole history, it's just Chinese whispers. Getting more distorted the more it's passed on. (pointing to the sphere) This is the Source. This is what you're fighting over. A device to rejuvenate a planet's ecosystem. It's nothing mystical. It's from a laboratory, not some creator. It's a bubble of gases. A cocktail of stuff for accelerated evolution. Methane, hydrogen, ammonia, amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids. It's used to make barren planets habitable. Look around you! It's not for killing, it's bringing life. If you allow it, it can lift you out of these dark tunnels and into the bright, bright sunlight! No more fighting. No more killing," lifting up the sphere gingerly, he held it in his hands, "I'm the Doctor, and I declare this war is over!"

And with that yell, the Doctor threw the sphere onto the ground. It shattered and the gas stretched out, shinning and shimmering in the air as it started to spread and spread. Both groups slowly put down their weapons to look at the gas in awe, for it was a beautiful sight.

Even Kayla was taken by it. She reached a hand up and touched the gas, marveling at the way it felt on her fingertips. She had forgotten the good parts of traveling with the Doctor; when alien suns were shining, stars of distant galaxies were twinkling, and nobody died…

"No!"

Kayla whirled on the spot just to see Jenny push the Doctor out of the way a bullet  _she_ took instead. The soldiers were grabbing Cobb and forcing him to remain in place when Kayla knelt down next to the Doctor, who was cradling the dying Jenny.

Without the Doctor meaning to, he was projecting his emotions onto Kayla. She could feel the sadness, despair, and overwhelming guilt as if it was her own. It made it hard for her to breathe or think past anything except she had to make this right.

She didn't need to be Martha to know that making this right and saving Jenny was impossible.

"You're my daughter and we've only just got started. You're gonna be great. You're gonna be more than great. You're gonna be amazing! You hear me? Jenny?"

But even the Doctor's desperate pleas did not stop Jenny from closing her eyes and dying.

"Two hearts. Two hearts, she's like me. If we wait...If we just wait..."

Like a scared, desperate child, the Doctor looked to Martha. Slowly, Martha shook her head, "There's no sign, Doctor. There is no regeneration. She's like you and Kayla, but...maybe not enough."

"No," the Doctor whimpered, "No. Too much. That's the truth of it. She was too much like me."

Gently, so very gently, the Doctor lowered Jenny to the ground. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then he got up, leaving Kayla next to the body as he marched over to General Cobb. This, Kayla knew, was no longer the Doctor. He was the Oncoming Storm; the person that the Daleks had named on the battlefield was the one picking up General Cobb's gun and pointing it at his head. He stood there for a long moment, just breathing rapidly from his anger and sadness.

Kayla knew she would shoot the man just as she knew the Doctor never would.

"I never would. Have you got that? I never would!" Not particularly shocked, Kayla watched as the Doctor threw the gun down and addressed the two groups, "When you start this new world. This world of Human and Hath...remember that! Make the foundation of this society. A man who never would!"

His head bowed, the Doctor walked away from Cobb and knelt down beside Kayla and Jenny's body once more.

* * *

They left Jenny's body with the humans and the Hath. The two groups wanted to bury her, a way to mark this new peaceful age; as her father and only parent, the Doctor gave his approval. The group walked back into the TARDIS and took off without much speaking. Martha had planned on going home that very day, but she was so tired that it took only a little bit of pressure from Donna for her to relent for one night of sleep in the TARDIS – of course, she only agreed to stay the night once she had seen Kayla nod in her head in agreement.

Everything was quiet in the console room now. Donna was asleep; Martha was asleep; the Doctor was either wandering around or asleep. Kayla, however, was not sleep  _or_ wandering around. She had walked into the darken console room, had opened the two doors, and had sat down with her legs hanging out into space.

* * *

**First of all, I am so sorry I didn't post this Saturday. I was on a trip and I only just got home. Trip was good, but very tiring.**

**As for this chapter, I feel like the second half of the episode isn't as strong as the first half. It's pretty rushed and the ending is pretty meh. Jenny is great though, and I'm working on a way to include her into future stories. She probably won't show up for a bit though.**


	19. Interlude 5

_Everything was quiet in the console room now. Donna was asleep; Martha was asleep; the Doctor was either wandering around or asleep. Kayla, however, was not sleep or wandering around. She had walked into the darken console room, had opened the two doors, and had sat down with her legs hanging out into space._

It was almost like she was on her roof again, except the TARDIS had far less alcohol or other substances for her to use. She could feel a thrum from the TARDIS at that thought, it was one of half-reproach and half-sadness.

"I'm fine," she said aloud, though she didn't know  _who_ she was saying it to, "It's the Doctor you should be worried about."

There was a thrum of confirmation that made Kayla nod, "This separation has been harder for him than it has been for me," she paused and looked out at the stars in front of her, "What does that say about me?"

She wrapped her arms around herself and was silent for a long moment as she just thought. So lost in thought was she, that she didn't notice the Doctor enter the console room and walk over to her until he was sitting down next to her.

"The TARDIS was making noises so I came down to investigate," the Doctor explained in lieu of greeting.

Kayla tried to give him a smile, but she could feel it fall short, "Just little old me," she tried to say casually, but it came out as twisted and short. The Doctor scooted away from just because of the tone, and it made Kayla start to widely come up with apologize only to slump in defeat, coming up with nothing except for, "That came out a bit wrong."

"Did it?" Kayla could feel the Doctor's eyes searching her face and it made her flush under their intensity, "The mental link we share has been suppressed for so long. The past few hours I've been able to hear your thoughts, Kayla.  _All of them._ "

It took a moment for Kayla to realize the full magnitude of what the Doctor had revealed. She could feel herself go pale and she felt clammy and far too hot at the same time. She tried to say something, but it came out as a cracked "oh," instead.

"Kayla…what's going on?"

Kayla was surprised when that question, just  _one_ question, made her burst in her tears. She had figured she had hidden everything from everyone, but hours with the Doctor had proved that she could never hide anything from him.

She was shocked at how  _good_ that realization felt; someone had seen her problems and that someone cared for her.

' _Of course, I care for you, Kayla. I love you.'_

That just made Kayla cry harder. She felt awkward now, too. She was breaking apart and the Doctor was just siting there watching her –

"Come here," the Doctor said as he scooted in closer and wrapped his arms around her. She pressed her face into his chest as she cried, and he, not caring about the tear stains his clothes were receiving, just rocked her back and forth until she calmed down.

"Kayla, if Torchwood is working out –"

"It's not Torchwood," Kayla said firmly, and tactfully, the Doctor didn't laugh at the sudden air-horn voice was she sporting, "It's me, Doctor. I've been so angry and alone lately that I just  _can't_ deal."

"Are you still angry?"

"Yes? No?" Kayla shrugged helplessly, "Sometimes I'm okay and sometimes I'm just so, so angry at everything."

The Doctor nodded, "When you left and then Martha left, I was alone, and I would get so angry sometimes. But then you'd call and I'd feel so happy for a bit," the Doctor paused and Kayla could see that he was struggling to get the next words out, "When you stopped calling, I distracted myself with Donna, but she's…she's not  _you,_ Kayla."

"It made me feel so guilty when I called you," Kayla admitted softly, "You'd always look so sad when we hung up and you'd look so happy when I called."

It wasn't just guilt, that was easy for Kayla to admit to. She felt like a monster when she called the Doctor, and she always felt like she was being judged and she had to mind was she was going to say; she couldn't talk about the guns or violence or killing.

"Kayla," the Doctor's sigh was so quiet, yet it sounded like a shout to the Time Lady, "I bonded with you  _knowing_ that you were violent and had killed. I didn't judge you then, and I don't judge you now."

Kayla could feel herself start to tear up again, but she desperately wanted them that to  _not_ happen. She had been crying for hours now, and she was done with crying.

She was done with a lot of things, actually.

Sensing what she needed before she had really thought it and far before she was able to vocalize it, the Doctor pulled her close. But this time, he didn't hug her and rock her back and forth. This time, he pulled her into his lip and kissed her gently.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Kayla returned the kiss.

Later that night, in the Doctor's familiar bed, Kayla was half asleep when she felt his arms go around her waist and pull her close to him. As she fell asleep, she had the faintest smile on her face.

Perhaps she wouldn't have been smiling if she knew that once she had Martha had returned to UNIT so they could pack and leave for Torchwood, the Doctor had called Jack and had told him in no uncertain terms that he was worried about his Bonded and that he knew, and Martha knew, that she was using _,_  but she still hadn't told  _them._

* * *

**Oof, bittersweet chapter for a bittersweet day. I got my first response from a college back, and it wasn't exactly pleasant. I'm not able to say that it's okay at the moment, but I'm going to take it day by day.**

**I thought that this was a necessary chapter for Kayla and the Doctor; I needed to show that they were still in love, but that love was complicated. I hope I was able to do that successfully.**


	20. Reset Pt. 1

Kayla had promised Martha that Torchwood would love her, but she wasn't so sure she believed the Time Lady. It wasn't that Martha didn't believe the Time Lady, though she knew she was more than okay with outright lying and stretching the truth, it was just that all Martha knew about Torchwood was guns and a lot of violence in general; she had gotten used to the former thanks to UNIT's soldiers and her required training, but she still wasn't a fan of violence.

"Neither is Torchwood," Kayla had said with a shrug, "I doubt anyone is. They're just ready to use it more than the average human."

Martha had frowned at her friend when this had been said, just as she was frowning at her friend in the seat across from her in the UNIT car that was driving them to Torchwood Three which was in  _Cardiff._

"Jack likes you, so they'll like you," Kayla stated, elaborating on her previous claim, "They'll try to act like they're above you, though, since you work for UNIT."

"Are they going to act that way to you?"

Kayla gave Martha a smile with just a few too many teeth to be considered friendly, "I doubt they will."

Martha couldn't help but wonder how close Kayla was to these people; she knew this regeneration seemed to hold humans at a distance, but she wondered if that held true with the people she saw every single day.

* * *

The car stopped outside a run down tourist office. The driver, a UNIT solider, got out and let the two women out. He saluted, Martha saluted back, and then he got back into the car and drove off. Martha watched the car go for a moment before she turned and gave Kayla a smile, "Let's go meet them, then."

The two walked through the doors leading to the tourist office and were greeted by a normal interior building; normal, that is, except for the impeccably clean man wearing a suit that looked completely out of place behind the counter, "Sorry, we're closing-" he started to apologize before he looked up from the magazine he was reading. Once he had, he flashed the barest hint of a smile to Kayla and then waited with an expectant gaze at Martha.

"Ianto, she's with me," Kayla commented dryly with a roll of her eyes.

"Protocols," Ianto replied as Martha grabbed her ID and showed it to the man. Eyeing it carefully, he nodded and pressed a button underneath the desk. The empty stretch of wall, the only one not covered by an outdated, faded poster of a tropical destination, slid back to reveal a high-tech tunnel leading to the rest of Torchwood.

Flashing Ianto a small smile, Kayla walked through and entered the tunnel with Martha close behind. She couldn't help but glance back to see Ianto tiding up the desk and returning the magazine to its proper place. The door slid shut, blocking the man from view, so Martha took that as a sign she should catch up to Kayla.

"He's already notified them that we're here," Kayla reported to her.

Martha nodded and then frowned, "Did they know I was coming?"

"They have no idea who you are," Kayla said with a shake of her head, "Jack likes introductions."

Martha remembered Jack, of course. How could anyone forget a man who couldn't stay dead? Even if she hadn't known that tidbit about Jack, how could she ever forget someone who was on the  _Valiant?_ The entire year that time had forgotten was sketched in her brain.

As they got closer to the entrance, Martha could hear Jack's familiar American accent ring out, "Suddenly, in an underground mortuary, on a wet night in Cardiff, I hear the song of a nightingale."

Right on cue, Martha and Kayla entered the Hub. Martha couldn't help but look around at the structure in awe for a couple of seconds, but then she focused in on her host and she grinned, "Oh, it's good to see you, Jack," she greeted. Setting down her items, she hurried forwards and gave him a warm hug; they had been through hell and back, and Martha would always count him as a close friend on par with Kayla and the Doctor.

"Toshiko, Owen, Gwen, Ianto, meet Martha," Jack said, rattling off the names – the last one made Martha pause and turn to see Ianto had entered the Hub without her noticing.

"Just a casual visit, or?" Another man, had to be Owen, asked. He was wearing a doctor's coat and was standing down in the pit of the Hub next to a slab with a dead body on it.

"I'm here to complete your postmortem," Martha answered with a nod to the body; that was what Jack had told UNIT they would need help with. Investigate some deaths that were happening in Cardiff, and since they were also happening London, Martha had had the chance to look at the files UNIT had gathered as well.

"Doctor Jones is from UNIT," Jack informed the group, "Since they got to borrow Kayla for a bit, we get to borrow Martha."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry." A welsh woman with a friendly face and large brown eyes frowned in thought as she eyed Martha and Kayla, "I get a bit confused. Which one's UNIT?"

Martha decided to let Jack answer that; she supposed Kayla could answer, but when she glanced over at the Time Lady, she saw that she was following her into the autopsy area to look at the body with an expression of morbid curiosity. It reminded her of those people who would slow at an accident to look at how bad it was.

Still, Kayla was an adult and if she wanted to stare at a dead body than she could. Martha did not have the luxury of time, so she started to get out her equipment as she rambled about the information she knew about the case, "I identified a pattern from UNIT's data on sudden deaths. Toxic shock. Nothing to link the victims. Different ages, sexes, ethnic origins, occupations. But there was a statistically significant concentration in South Wales."

"Come on, Martha, be honest. You just came all this way to see me."

Martha bit back a grin, "Still struggling to conquer your shyness, Jack?"

Torchwood's medic, Owen, gave her a challenging look she struggled to not laugh at – she could hear Kayla snorting which did  _not_ help – "So what about this pattern, then, Doctor Jones?"

Pulling on a pair of standard gloves, Martha started to speak as she moved up the body to the man's head, "They were being written off as suicides or accidents," bending over, she pulled the man's eye lids back so Owen could look on and see what she knew would be there, "Look. Puncture mark. Hypodermic needle," She moved back to the middle of the autopsy table and stripped the gloves off, "You'll find his bloodstream was pumped full of ammonium hydroxide."

"Yeah, bloodstream. That was the thing I was going to do that next."

Martha raised an eyebrow, "Have you checked his medical records?"

"No. I was just about to."

Throughout her year walking the Earth, Martha had become skilled at giving people a look that challenged them to be a bit less stupid, and she perfected this look thanks to her position in UNIT. Now, she was giving the look to Owen, and she took pleasure in the way he seemed to cower in the gaze, "Let's give it a go. You never know, Owen, you might learn something."

* * *

Kayla was more than happy to let Martha take the lead on dealing with Torchwood. She could tell the others liked her; even Owen was being polite! She wondered if Jack had given them some sort of talk before about how Torchwood should treat everyone with kindness and nearly snorted at the mental image of Owen's reaction to this statement.

Crossing her arms, she forced herself to focus on the information Martha was giving about the case. UNIT had had a surprising lack of data, but that was not because of their lack of research into the situation; all their data had been wiped on the victims they had flagged in the NHS, and now it was the same for Torchwood.

"A computer crash wouldn't delete data so cleanly. This is deliberate. Let me look into it." Kayla doubted Jack's affirmative response to Tosh's words would have stopped the woman from looking into the wipe, but they did make her actions official.

Easily, Jack gave out orders to the rest of the team, ending with a request for Martha and Kayla to come to his office, so the two women did. Jack shut the door firmly behind them, sat down behind his desk, and waited for the two women to sit down before he spoke, "How's the family?"

It took Martha a bit to reply, and Kayla knew it was because she was reliving the experience once more. She watched as Martha gave Jack a small, sad smile, "Getting better. They send their love."

"Give them mine," when Martha nodded, Jack gave her a cheeky grin, "So, End of the World Survivors Club."

Martha broke into a larger smile, "God, I am so glad to see you, Jack!"

Jack sent a smirk towards Kayla, "See, you did come all this way just to see me. It's the jaw line. Once seen, always yearned for," as Martha giggled and Kayla rolled her eyes, Jack slowly became more serious, "Do you miss him?"

Martha frowned and looked over at Kayla, only to receive an unhelpful shrug, "Did they not tell you? At Jack's confused face, Martha sighed, "We saw him recently; with the whole gas thing."

Slowly, very, very slowly, Jack turned to look at Kayla. He arched his eyebrow slowly and for a brief moment gave every impression of a parent who had just heard that their child hadn't been sleeping over at their friends house but had been at a party.

And Kayla, for the moment, felt every bit of the naughty child.

"No, UNIT didn't tell me this," he said, his voice a rare even level that made Kayla bite her lip.

"Well," Martha said slowly, her eyes going in between the two, "He saved the day," she rolled her eyes at this, "And then when we were in the TARDIS it took off and we got sucked into an adventure," at the look Jack gave her for this, Martha quickly added, "It was fine, though."

"Was it?"

"Yeah," Martha started to smile fondly as she thought back on the adventure, "Made me miss it a bit," she admitted.

"Ah!"

"Tiny bit. Tiny, tiny. Then I came to my senses again," Martha shrugged, "Anyway, I've got plenty to occupy me."

Jack rolled his eyes, "Oh, yeah, Miss Highfalutin'. What is it? Medical officer?"

"Oh, yes."

"So do I have to call you ma'am?"

Martha laughed, "No. Just follow my orders to the letter," she finished with a wink.

Jack sighed and looked down at his desk, "You should have called Kayla or I if you were looking for a job," he said with a slightly chastising tone.

"I wasn't. This woman from UNIT rang out of the blue, said I was just what they needed. That I'd come highly recommended by an impeccable source."

"It wasn't me, in case you were wondering," Kayla put in, "UNIT didn't even know about me until that phone call."

Jack nodded slowly, "He must have thought he owed you a favor. Guess we all do," a somber tone fell in the office as the trio thought about just  _why_ everyone owed Martha a favor. Of course, Jack quickly broke that tone, "So do you think you could get me one of those red caps for personal use? I'm thinking Ianto might look good in it."

"You want uniforms, get your own. Now, am I going to get the guided tour?"

"Kayla and I just need to debrief and then we're good to go. Do you mind talking to Gwen?"

Quickly telling Jack that no, she didn't mind talking to Gwen – clearly someone hadn't lost her wits and knew when to get the hell out of a situation – Martha exited the office, shutting the door behind her. Kayla couldn't help but watch her go with the feeling that Martha was trapping her inside a cell.

With a very angry Jack Harkness.

"Was the adventure nice?"

Kayla shrugged, "It was the same as any with the Doctor. We saved a planet and then we left hoping the planet would be alright."

She refused to think about Jenny and the way the Doctor had cried when he held her in her arms while she stood powerlessly to the side, unable to truly comfort him since she had had no paternal connection to the girl…

"It was nice to see him again. We had a good chat before we left."

"And?"

"I'm going to call him more often," Kayla said slowly. She started to pluck at a strand coming from her shirt, pulling at it awkwardly.

When Kayla didn't say anything else, Jack sighed and started to have her give a verbal debrief of her time at UNIT. Mechanically, Kayla went through the familiar process, for she had done far too many debriefs at the Time Agency for her to count. By the end of the entire process, about thirty minutes had passed, and Jack had received a thorough account.

With nothing left to do, the two walked out of the office. Jack started Martha and Gwen on the tour while Kayla went to get some much-needed coffee. Sure, she could have gone and slept, but she had a feeling that this would be a long night.

That feeling was proven correct when Ianto stopped by the kitchen to report that there had been another attack with a hypodermic needle, only this time the victim had survived.

With a sigh, Kayla downed the rest of her coffee, placed the mug in the sink, and followed Ianto out to the Hub. There, since there was very little for her to help Tosh with, Jack assigned her to going to the crime scene with Gwen and Ianto.

Within less than an hour, Kayla was in the back seat of the Torchwood SUV as if nothing had changed.

* * *

The crime scene was less than interesting. The person, a student according to the police, was like all the other ones. Died of apparent toxic shock, and when Kayla pulled back the skin around the eye, a needle mark was clearly there.

While Gwen spoke to the police in that convincing tone and Torchwood badge, Kayla and Ianto placed the body in the box in the back of the SUV. The two didn't speak to each other as they waited for Gwen to come back. It wasn't that they didn't want to, it was just that they were both caught up in their thoughts that the idea of speaking to each other didn't occur to them.

Kayla had no clue  _what_ Ianto was thinking of, but she doubted he was thinking of a dead near-Time Lord human in the arms of her father while  _she_ stood by without any ability to comfort him. She doubted he was worrying if the TARDIS had taken them there because the box wanted to show Kayla how far apart she and the Doctor were; she doubted he worried that somehow, the entire trip was a message that if Kayla didn't change soon, then she would loose the Doctor and he would start his own family.

She doubted all of that because Ianto was just human, and humans – with their silly little problems – didn't have to worry about such things.

* * *

As soon as they dropped off the body, Jack sent them out to go and speak to the dead student's – Barry Leonard's – room mate; the address for the student accommodation was curtesy of Tosh, of course, who had gotten that plus his room number despite only hearing the boy's name.

By the way Ianto and Gwen talked about this skill, it was apparently a mixture of creepy and useful; Kayla didn't quite understand the creepy side, to her it seemed that humans  _liked_ to be easy to find, but she did understand the useful part.

It was useful to be able to just walk into the accommodations and follow the directions to Barry's room. Gwen was the one who knocked, and as the only person in the group with knowledge of how the police handled informing someone that their friend had died mysteriously, neither Kayla or Ianto fought to take her place.

The boy who answered – Mike according to Tosh's neat file – answered the door with a grumbled, "Barry, did you leave the keys at the bar again? I told you – oh."

"Are you Mike?" Of course, Mike nodded at this, "I'm afraid I have some bad news. Can we come in?"

Nodding rapidly, Mike allowed the trio inside. He offered Gwen a seat twin to the one he sat down in, and the Welshwoman took it so she could look him in the eye, give him a look of sympathy, and inform him that Barry was dead.

Mike's utterance of "Oh," was all anyone said for a few minutes.

"I know this will be hard, but can you tell me about Barry?"

"Barry was my best mate. We were doing the same course. Met him on the first day."

"Was Barry doing any sort of drugs at all?"

"Well, he used to be really clean. He reckoned he had to be careful about what went into his body because of his diabetes."

"Barry was diabetic?" Kayla was surprised at Ianto's sharp question and made a note to ask why it was a big deal that Barry was diabetic.

"Sure. But when they cured that, he was doing booze, blow."

"Wait a minute," Gwen said slowly, "You're telling me Barry's diabetes was cured?'

"Sure."

Kayla's mental note was quickly scratched out as Ianto flatly said, "That's impossible."

Mike shrugged, "Well, he stopped taking insulin. He was fine."

Kayla looked up as Ianto moved from where the two of them had been standing next to Gwen. He crossed the room and tapped his comms., muttering into it so Mike couldn't hear, "Owen, something you should know-"

"So who performed this miracle cure?" Gwen asked.

"I don't know. He was very quiet about that. All I know is, he was suddenly flashing a load of wedge about."

Kayla frowned at that and made yet another mental note about this case – if diabetes was incurable, then who would pay Barry to cure it? Shouldn't it be the other way around and Barry pay them for preforming a miracle?

* * *

Having gotten all the information about Barry from Mike, the trio left with Gwen leaving behind a card for a grief counselor nearby in case Mike needed to speak to someone. With nothing left to do, the trio returned to the Hub only to be pulled into a meeting with everyone where they all gave the information they had gathered.

When Martha and Owen visited the hospital after they had been told their only surviving victim had collapsed and had a seizure, they barely got the vital information that the victim had been in a drug trial for a company called the "Pharm," who had given her a drug called "Reset." Reset, among other things, had gotten rid of HIV and, if Barry was also involved, then diabetes. At least that explained Kayla's confusion about why Barry had been paid by someone after they cured his incurable disease.

It also seemed to be connected to a swarm of little alien flies that had left the victim's body when she died for no apparent reason. Or it could be a coincidence, but Kayla didn't think that was very likely, and neither did the rest of the Torchwood team since they decided their best bet was to look into this mysterious Pharm.

"Well, the public image is innocent enough. Private public partnership between the government and a consortium of the pharmaceutical companies. Researching and developing cutting edge biotechnology," Ianto informed them.

"Their IT systems are way more cutting edge than they need to be. Plus, they've got seemingly unrestricted security clearance," Tosh added; there was a slight frown on her face, and Kayla knew it was less of the illegal factor that was bothering her, and it was more of the fact that that was  _Torchwood's_ ability, not  _theirs._

"Which means they'd have the capability to erase medical records if they wanted to," Martha said firmly in a tone that made it clear she already knew her statement was corrected.

"Exactly," Tosh confirmed.

Jack crossed him arms, "Who runs this outfit?"

"The Institute director is a Doctor Aaron Copley," Gwen answered.

Owen jerked at the name, drawing everyone's attention to him, "Yeah, I know his work. He's one of the most respected research scientists in his field."

"Harvard graduate. Did research at Cambridge. Last job, Harvard Professor of Molecular Pharmacology," Ianto rattled off, "Came to the UK to set up the Pharm."

Peering at the picture that was now projected on the screen, Kayla could see Jack start to smirk in a rather predatory way, "Hmm, he's kind of handsome, too. Do you think he'll like visitors?"

* * *

It was agreed upon that Jack would go to the Pharm and Owen, citing the man as his idol, could come and meet him too. Kayla was surprised when she was included, but didn't question it incase Jack decided to take back the offer.

The Time Lady figured she would act as extra security and was pleased when she found herself correct. Jack instructed her to stand in the back of the room and act as an extra pair of eyes and ears, so she did.

It became clear in a matter of seconds that Dr. Aaron Copley was lying to them. He had the worse tell of his nostrils flaring with every falsehood, and with the amount they were flaring throughout the conversation it became clear he was lying.

"Well, Jack, none of these faces mean anything to me," flair.

"Alien origin? That's preposterous," flair.

"But nothing like that exists," flair.

Kayla nearly snorted when Jack mentioned the obvious tell; as it was, she couldn't keep the smirk off of her face as Copley tried to hide the next flair as he tried to excuse himself because of a meeting he was already late for. He failed, of course, and judging by the way he was very careful to not say another lie, Kayla figured he realized that stopping his nose from flaring was a loosing battle.

While it was nice that he was no longer lying to them, Kayla had a bad feeling that the reason why was less of a respect one and more of him seeing no reason to lie to them; Kayla had experienced liars like Copley before, and as soon as they stopped lying to her, they became much more dangerous.

"Was it me, or was he a little touchy?" Jack wondered as they exited the room and started to make the trek to their SUV.

"Yeah, so much for the polite approach. We need to turn this place over," Owen snapped.

"He's going to know it's us if we do that," Kayla pointed out, "He knows we know he's lying."

Nodding, a familiar beeping noise made Kayla automatically glance down at her Vortex Manipulator, but hers was as silent as ever. Frowning, she turned to Jack to see him eyeing his Manipulator critically, "Oh, yeah. According to these readings, this place has the highest concentration of alien life forms this side of the Rift."

As a female guard came up to them to lead the trio out, Jack eyed her all gray outfit just as critically as he had eyed his Manipulator. When she turned away from the group, he hissed, "Grey is so not her color."

* * *

Upon returning the Hub and revealing to the team that their assumptions had been correct and the Pharm was definitely doing something alien – like good little employees no one questioned how Jack had come to this knowledge – Jack checked in on the group that had stayed behind at the Hub.

Tosh was first. She had been trying to hack into the group, but when Jack asked about her progress, she said the sentence Kayla had never expected her to say, "I can't hack in there, Jack," when everyone stared at her, she shrugged, "And if I keep trying with a brute force approach, they'll know they're under attack."

"An alien life form is preying on the human bloodstream. I need a way in there," Jack demanded; he received a sigh from Tosh as her response.

"Tosh, I've got the results of that research. On the screen now."

Tosh looked up at the screen expectantly and at the sight, she beamed, "Ianto, that's brilliant! They're in the market for volunteers."

"Understandable. If everyone who's had the same needle in the eye death was with them, then that's a lot of people who are dying; at least once a week maybe more."

"One of us needs to go undercover," Gwen said suddenly.

"No," Jack said firmly, "we don't know enough about the workings of that place. Too many things could go wrong."

"Unless," Martha started even as Kayla turned to her and shook her head, "you were to put a medic in there. Someone who knew what to look for."

"Yeah, but I can't do it. They know me now, don't they," Owen pointed out in a very lecturing tone.

If circumstances were different, Kayla would have found Martha's responding eye roll funny, but those circumstances would not involve her companion deciding to go under cover in a dangerous organization.

"I know it's hard to believe, Owen, but I wasn't thinking of you."

"No," Kayla finally said, the objection rolling off her tongue easily.

"No way," Jack echoed.

Martha crossed her arms and turned towards the two, "Come on, Jack and Kayla, I've been in worse places and you know it."

Kayla knew Jack would relent to that reminder of the  _Valiant_ and all its trauma, but Kayla couldn't, not until she said very slowly, "He'll never forgive me if you get hurt.  _I_ won't forgive me if you get hurt."

"Then I won't get hurt," Martha responded with a slight smile.

With nothing left to say, Kayla only nodded. Next to her, Jack sighed heavily, "Okay," he agreed, signing off on the mission as well.

"Jack, can I have a word?" Owen snapped. Not waiting for his boss to respond, Owen dragged Jack over to the other side of the room to hiss at him – a hiss Kayla was the only to hear – "I know you're big buddies from way back whenever, but you can't just send her in like this."

"Trust me. She's more than capable. I'd rely on Martha if the world was ending. In fact, I did."

* * *

Kayla was very nervous as she watched Martha get ready for her undercover mission. Even with the fake name and fake background that Tosh had made as realistic as possible and the contact lenses, Kayla was sure they were missing something. She had a pit her stomach, but she had given her okay on the matter, so all she could do was squeeze her companion and friend tight and tell her to be safe.

Martha had smiled, waved, and gotten into the taxi that would take her to the Pharm. But even as everyone walked inside, Kayla stayed behind to watch the taxi drive out of sight. Once it was gone, she couldn't help but cross her arms like she was hugging herself.

She hoped, she really hoped, that Martha was going to be okay.

* * *

**I'm pretty proud of this chapter. I really enjoyed the episodes with Martha at Torchwood since Martha is one of my favorite companions, so I hope I've done her, and this episode, justice.**

**I also hope Kayla seems realistic here. I think she looks at Martha in a very paternal way, so I wanted to make sure that came through and that she was the ever-cautious voice during this episode.**


	21. Reset Pt. 2

Kayla hadn't felt this level of anxiety for Martha since she was on the Valiant. At least this time there wasn't a psychotic Time Lord giving her updates on Martha, but somehow, knowing what Martha was doing was worse than the Master's gloating.

Still, Kayla continued to watch the video feed of Martha. The rest of Torchwood was watching as well, but Kayla didn't pay attention to them until they started to type messages to Martha about how she couldn't lose the guy and she needed to convince them that she was a good fit.

Of course, Martha took that to mean she had to lie, and even though she  _had_ to know the lie would be found out, she still told them that she had contracted hepatitis. They jumped to it, offering her a position right away. While the Torchwood team seemed pleased with the results, Kayla couldn't help the concern that coiled in her gut. They  _had_ to have known Martha was lying, she was horrible at it, but why did they let her through?

What had they found that Kayla had missed?

* * *

Much later that night, Kayla found herself watching the screen with Jack, Owen, and Tosh. Martha had left her room and was wondering through the Pharm; her contact lenses showing them her entire journey from her room to the Administrator's door, which was locked and had a keypad panel.

"Tosh, can you get us past this?" Owen asked.

Tosh rolled her eyes at the suggestion that she couldn't do something as simple as getting past a lock, "Easy peasy. She just needs to get the lenses to within the EPR field," she explained as she typed the same message to Martha. Within seconds, Tosh cracked the lock and typed in the five-digit code.

They watched as Martha quickly slipped into the familiar office. It was creepier at night, though, and the way Martha seemed to shy away from the darker corners told Kayla that she probably felt the same foreboding sense.

Or Martha was just staying from the shadows so that they could see everything.

Tosh got Martha into the computer after a tense moment of deciding whether they had the time – Kayla and Jack firmly said they didn't, but Tosh and Owen seemed to think they did – for Martha to access the computer system. Oddly enough, the debate ended up pointless as there was no login needed.

Inside the system, data after data sprung up on screen. Martha quickly clicked through the information until she paused and clicked on one data point. The one that detailed what the mysterious parasite was.

They had called it the Mayfly, and though they hadn't felt the need to explain the reason for the name, they had explained a lot more. It was lethal, both to its host and to others if it somehow survived past the host – which the notes clearly showed that it had failed to do so.

Gwen called the Mayfly beautiful when she first saw it, and while Kayla somewhat agreed, she also thought that there were more pressing matters than its beauty or lack of it, such as, "Why would anyone need it?"

Nodding at the question, Jack leaned down and typed a quick message to Martha, narrating it as he did so, "Martha, now we've got control, we can download all of this and go through it here. Get out of there pronto."

The screen's view went up and down as Martha nodded and snuck out of the office and back to the hallway. The screen paused, and Kayla cursed under her breath as Martha took in guards running down and clearly giving orders to each other. They would see her if she went up the stairs, so Martha went to the nearest window and climbed out.

Kayla supposed she was lucky that she didn't suffer motion sickness, because watching the camera in Martha's contact lenses was hard enough when she was running without the risk of the Time Lady puking on the keyboard. She turned away to grab a mug of coffee from Ianto before he left with Gwen to get one of the test subjects before she was killed, only to spin around as Owen snapped, "What the hell is she doing?"

Instead of running away from the facility, Martha was following the guards as they were spreading out, as if they were hunting something.

Kayla wished that she was shocked at Martha's behavior, but she couldn't be. A near year of traveling as the Doctor's companion had taught Martha to run headlong into danger if it meant that she could fix a wrong. All Martha knew was that there was something she could do to help, and that was enough for a companion of the Doctor to decide to get involved.

Kayla cursed, far louder this time, as the contact lenses died, showing only static to the very worried Time Lady, Jack, Owen, and Tosh.

"What was that?" Jack asked; the question, though far more vulgar and full of blame, was about to burst out of Kayla as an echo, but she quickly bit her lip as she took in Tosh's determined expression to fix things. Kayla was aware Tosh thought that Martha wanted to be with Owen, but she also knew that Tosh would never put a team member in danger even if she was angry at them.

She couldn't help but feel guilty for suspecting her of anything, and that guilt made her bite her tongue and wait.

"I can't get her back," Tosh finally said with a frustrated huff and a roll away from the keyboard.

Owen turned to Jack, "We have to get her out of there."

"That place is swamped in security. If we try and steam in, we'll be putting her at risk," Tosh pointed out.

Owen shook his head, "We can't just leave her there," he paused as he waited for Jack to answer, but when he didn't, Owen added, "can we?"

In the silence that followed, Tosh suggested slowly, "If I can't get her signal back in thirty minutes, then we think of alternatives."

"Anything could be happening to her in there."

Still not answering, Jack glanced at Kayla, for what the Time Lady didn't know. Both sides of the argument had substance to them, but either way, Martha Jones was in danger. Danger, a snide voice reminded her, that was nothing compared to the Master and the Toclafane hunting her for a year.

"Martha can handle herself. She's been in worse situations than this," Jack said firmly.

Owen stared at Jack and then at Kayla, but when none of them said what they wanted to do, he finally snapped, "You sure about that?" When no one continued to reply, he stormed off to the autopsy area; close enough so that he could still hear them, but far away enough for his action to take hold.

No one went after him, not even Tosh, who instead turned back to her computer and continued to work through the information they had pulled. Jack and Kayla stayed at the dark computer monitor, as if the contact lenses would suddenly reconnect. They only left when Gwen and Ianto dragged in a man Ianto identified as Billy. He was the assassin for the Pharm.

Ianto was set to go down with Jack to interrogate the man, but Kayla quickly offered to do it instead. No one argued with her, and while Kayla may have written off this decision due to the incident with Beth, everyone else was quick to cite the glare she was giving Billy as something they did not want to get in between.

For someone who was usually quiet and quick to draw attention to someone else, Kayla was easily able to demand something and get it. There was just something about her that made the Torchwood team instinctively give her what she wanted.

And what she wanted was to make Billy give up the information so that Kayla could help Martha.

* * *

Jack was the one to hold Janet the Weevil. It wasn't a decision he had made vocally, and in all honesty not one he would have made ever, but it went without question that Kayla would interrogate Billy.

So far, it wasn't going too well for the assassin. For someone whose job was to kill people without anyone know they had died of anything but natural causes, Billy was not smart. At all. Any wise man would have confessed when Kayla had shoved him to the ground and then had bent over, still maintaining a position of power while also making sure Billy could see her face.

"Tell me."

Instead of answering, Billy spat in her face, "Get stuffed."

Without speaking, Kayla forcibly sat Billy into a chair and moved to the side. She nodded to Jack, who, at the signal, yanked on Janet's chain to push the Weevil out so that she could run at Billy. Like anyone who had experienced this treatment before, Billy was far too focused on the claws and teeth and snarling to notice that the chain Jack was holding prevented the Weevil from actually clawing him to death.

"Merciful Christ! What the?"

"Have anything to say?"

For a moment it seemed as if Billy hadn't heard Kayla, but then he started to whimper and plead that he would tell them everything. Jack glanced over at Kayla and received a nod in answer. He pulled Janet back and dragged her to her cell while Kayla went back in front of Billy to ask, "Why have you been killing people?"

"I work for the Pharm. They'd been giving people this Reset drug, but there were these side effects. Parasites or something. They were gonna die anyway, so I had to get rid of them before any weird symptoms showed up in public."

Suddenly, Billy groaned and doubled over in his chair, "My stomach."

"What's wrong with it?" Kayla asked. When he didn't answer, Kayla sighed, "If you're not going to tell us then I guess we're just going to go the Pharm with you fronting for us."

"Yeah, yeah. But my stomach! My stomach!"

Very suddenly, and violently, Billy started to shake in his chair and blood started to come from his mouth. Kayla immediately took a step back, but made no move to look away in either disgust or horror. She couldn't help but tilt her head and cross her arms, studying Billy even as Owen sprinted in and started to hastily examine the man.

According to Owen, there was a Mayfly inside of Billy. The Torchwood medic was planning on trying to get it out of him with some sort of alien technology the team had salvaged from the Rift, but Owen's calibrations were a bit off.

"Christ Owen!" Kayla exclaimed in a rare form of shock as Billy's stomach burst apart and the Mayfly fell to the cement floor with a sick splat.

"Oh, my God. Owen, deal with it," Jack ordered with a very large step away from the dead Billy and dead Mayfly, "Still sure you had those calibrations right?"

"I'm sorry, all right?" Owen snapped. With oversized forceps, he carefully picked up the Mayfly, "He must have breathed in larvae when one of his victims died. This could have been me, or Martha."

* * *

They were still able to use Billy as a way to get into the Pharm, and while many would object to using a man's corpse as a semi-puppet, Kayla would argue that Billy was an organ donor, so this purpose was somewhat similar. Besides,  _Tosh_ of all the employees, had been the one to come up with this idea, so it wasn't like Kayla was to blame.

As soon as they were passed security and in their checkpoint, Jack quickly ordered Tosh, Gwen, and Ianto to check out Zone A while he, Owen, and Kayla went to go save Martha.

The task of saving Martha turned out to be easy thanks to the lack of guards they needed to hide from. Really, all they had to do was take their guns out, kick down the door to the examination room, and shout, "Hands above your head!"

"What the hell have you done to her?" Kayla shouted as she stormed over to Martha. Her former companion was strapped to the bed with her eyes closed, but any illusion of sleep or peacefulness was lost in the sweat that was coating her skin and the way her skin bubbled from the inside.

"Tell me that's not Reset."

"She's survived the larval stage. The only subject ever to do so. It's fascinating. Turns out these bugs practice sibling cannibalism. Only the strongest individual is left now. God knows what happens next," Copley said; the awe in his voice made Kayla feel sick.

"Stop this, or you die," Kayla snapped as she whirled away from Martha and pointed her gun at the man.

"I can't. I don't know how."

Glaring at the man, Kayla made to click off the safety, but then Jack snapped, "We can still use him."

Growling, Kayla kicked Copley instead of killing him and turned back to Martha. She placed a hand on the woman's forehead and winced at the heat that was radiating from her. She didn't need Owen's fearful remark to know that Martha was going to die.

She also didn't need Ianto's remark through the comms. to know the Pharm was a glorified torture facility. If they were willing to kill humans, then of course they would be willing to kill the aliens they saw as less than their own species.

Looking away from Martha, Kayla glanced to Owen to see him struggling with – "Owen! Are you insane?"

From where he had been taunting Copley with the shutdown of his facility, Jack whirled to see the same sight Kayla had – Owen was struggling to set up the alien machine from earlier with the clear intention to use it on Martha.

Before Jack could come up with a suitable protest, Owen started to instruct him and Kayla, "You go there, and  _you_ go there."

Exchanging looks of concern, the two still went to opposite sides of Martha and held her still as Owen started to line up the machine.

"What the hell are you doing to her?" Kayla hissed.

"This is the only way we'll save Martha. I think I understand how it works."

"You'd better be sure because it's never worked before," Jack snapped, "Owen, are you sure it's safe?"

"Okay, Jack!"

Glaring at Owen, Kayla moved away from Martha so that she was right next to the medic, "If you kill her, then you're next," she threatened.

Swallowing hard, Owen nodded rapidly and started to work. He paled, even more so when Martha's heart rate started to speed up more and more and Jack shouted, "We're losing her!

But then, just as Owen stepped back to show that he was done, the unnatural pushing from Martha's stomach stopped. Quite suddenly, Martha sat up, breaking the restraints as she did so. As soon as she was fully up, though, she was falling back in a unconscious heap and the heart rate monitor she was connected to started to play the horrible one note.

"Martha!"

Kayla was cupping her face in an instant, hardly aware of her own anguished cry and the tears that were falling down her face. She stared down at her former companion's face urging her to get up, but when she didn't all the Time Lady could do was turn and glare at Owen, "What did you do?!"

The only thing that stopped her from killing Owen was the sound of Martha coughing and the monitor's beeping. Kayla turned away from Owen so she could take Martha's hand and squeezed it.

* * *

It was a testimony to how resilient Martha was that she was walking, with the aid of Kayla and Owen, out of the Pharm. Despite her heart stopping a mere thirty minutes or so ago, Martha was still determined to get back on her feet; literally, in this case.

"I am prescribing rest and recuperation for you, madam. And a few days in bed, preferably under my supervision," Owen lightly ordered.

"Owen, I don't know how to break this to you. I've got a fiance."

"Yeah, but has he saved your life like I did?"

"Er, yes, actually."

"I was there," Kayla added, her tone as light as it could be when referring to the events that put Martha's life in danger in the first place.

They were about halfway to the SUV when everything went south. Later, Kayla would admit to hearing a noise behind them, but she had never expected it to be Copley, so she didn't turn around until the man was shouting at them, "Did you really think I was going to let you just walk away? You've ruined everything I've worked for."

It all happened fast, too fast for Kayla to even think about doing something. She saw Copley's gun pointed at Martha, and while she was already moving herself and Martha out of the way, Owen was trying to get Copley to put the gun down.

In a sick way, Copley did put the gun down, but that was only after he had shot Owen in the chest and was about to shoot Martha. By the time Kayla was turning away from the man's body, she knew it would be too late. The shot he had hit Owen with was fatal, and by the time he was on the ground, he was dead.

But Martha's horse, "He's dead," still hit Kayla like a brick.

* * *

**And now we have the age of Zombie Owen! I really loved this three part saga. It elevated Torchwood from Series 1 and from the first bit of Series 2 as well. Without it, I don't think we would've gotten Children of Earth.**

**I really love writing Kayla with Martha as well. Honestly, I just really loved this chapter. Everything has really clicked with Kayla in this regeneration at this point. Especially in the stuff I've written for later on. I'm planning on finishing this book over the three day weekend, which is completely insane when I think about it.**


	22. Dead Man Walking Pt. 1

Torchwood Three, located in Cardiff, was mourning. The Hub was shrouded in a heavily weighted feeling of confusion, sadness, and loss. Gwen Cooper was sitting on the couch with tears on her face. Toshiko Sato was staring into the distance, her face completely blank and her eyes almost glassed over thanks to the memories swirling around them; next to her, with his arm around her shoulder, Ianto Jones sat with a tissue at the ready, having already given several to Gwen and was now waiting with many more for when Tosh's memories eventually broke into heavy, deep tears.

In a chair dragged over from her workstation, Kayla Hark sat with her arms wrapped around herself and her gaze firmly on the floor and not at her coworkers. The only time she had looked up was about an hour ago, when Jack banged out of his office and had stopped the autopsy Martha Jones was about to do. They had been instructed not to touch Owen's body until he had returned, and at Torchwood Three, Jack's word was law even when that word made no sense or, in the case of Tosh, prolonged their pain. As cold as it would seem, an autopsy would be the only thing that would allow them to say goodbye to Owen. He would never get a proper burial, his body would remain the archives, but they'd at least  _know_ he had been put to rest.

But with Jack's command, they couldn't proceed with the autopsy. All that was left for the employees, and Martha, to do was wait, and so they did. They sat waiting and waiting and waiting. Their forcefully imposed vigil waning on and on until, suddenly, Jack came back. He was scuffed and bloodied, but he had a proud expression on his face that Kayla could only link to the box he had brought back.

"Jack?" Gwen croaked, her voice hoarse from a mixture of disuse and crying.

As if his name was the permission they needed to move, the group of Torchwood employees and Martha got up and followed Jack to his office. They huddled in to watch as Jack placed the box onto his desk, but then he paused. He stared down at the lid in utter silence until Gwen finally asked, "Jack, what have you got?"

In answer, he lifted the lid. Inside, a rusted, oversized glove sat innocently. The effect it had on its onlookers, though, made it clear that the glove was  _anything_ but innocent.

"Oh, my God," Tosh gasped.

"You can't use it. Not after Suzie," Gwen pointed out, any order she might have intended absecent due to the anxiety that shook her voice.

"I'm using the glove. I'm bringing Owen back."

Despite the protests that followed the statement, Jack was not swayed from his "completely stupid idea," that "was guarantee to backfire horribly," or at least that's what Gwen had shouted.

Kayla was no expert on the topic at hand, and was not following along very well, but from what she  _had_ understood, the glove was going to somehow bring Owen back from the dead. That sounded like a horrible idea to Kayla, but she knew her protests would go in vain; the determined look in Jack eyes made it clear that anything said in protest would be promptly dismissed.

Gwen, however, did not seem to realize or care. She protested the entire way to the autopsy room from Jack's office, and while that wasn't a long journey, it was a loud one thanks her shouts. Even right next to Owen's corpse, with the heart monitor set up and Ianto's stopwatch at the ready, Gwen got in one last protest, "Are you really going to use that after what happened last time? Jack, the gloves are dangerous. At best it'll give us two minutes. At worst, it. Who knows what will happen?"

"It's not up for discussion."

Gwen sulked for a moment at this answer, but when Jack started to lift Owen's head, she quickly said, "I thought the glove didn't work for you."

"Different glove, different circumstances," Jack responded through gritted teeth, "This time, it has to work for me. I'm not going to give it any choice," he paused and looked up from Owen's corpse to stare at the Torchwood team, his expression a mixture of determination and sadness, "Okay, if you've got anything you need to say to Owen, now's your chance."

Twitching his fingers in the glove experimentally, Jack placed it fully on Owen's head, "Owen, it's Jack, can you hear me? Owen, hear my voice. Get a hold of it, let it draw you out, pull you out."

A long, lengthy pause followed, the team looked to Ianto who was staring at the results from Owen's body. When he too looked up, it was to shake his head, "I'm not getting any vital signs."

Looking more determined than ever, Jack readjusted his grip on Owen's head before he spoke once more, "Owen, it's me, Jack," for a moment, there was nothing, but then there was an odd, twisting energy that seemed to cloak the room; the feeling made Kayla gasp out, only to be echoed by Jack a moment later, "He's coming, he's coming."

Owen screamed loudly. The noise drowned out everything around him, but even when he stopped Kayla swore she could feel it ringing in her ears as some sort of sick proclamation that  _this_ was not right.

"What happened? Where am I?" Looking down at himself, Owen jerked at the sight of his chest, "Oh God, I'm shot. He shot me!"

"Owen, you need to listen to me. We don't have long," Jack gritted out.

"Where am I? This isn't hospital, this is the autopsy room. What am I doing here?" Before anyone could answer, Owen seemed to jerk in an attempt to get up, but the glove that was being pressed down on his head stopped him, "Jack. oh, no. What's that? What's that?"

"The resurrection glove. We lost you, but I brought you back."

Jack's answer made Owen pause. Though everyone could tell that he was still scared, he started to at least  _attempt_ to calm down. His eyes flicked over to Ianto and Owen hoarsely asked, "How long have I got?"

"We're at thirty seconds and counting."

Owen blanched at the answer, "Oh, no. Jesus. Really?"

"Okay, team, say your goodbyes."

Quickly, Gwen and Tosh gave their goodbyes, with Tosh whispering her love to Owen before she drew back. For a moment, Kayla twitched as if to give a farewell too, but she didn't take any other steps; she doubted Jack noticed her movement at all because he was already speaking to Owen once more, "Owen, I need the code for the alien morgue. You're the only one who knows it."

"You brought me back for that? For that?"

"I'm sorry."

"Jack, it's two three one one six five, okay?"

Jack took a deep breath at the needed answer and then glanced to Ianto. Kayla could tell something passed between the two, and while she knew it was impossible for them to have a mental link the way she and the Doctor did, the look they exchanged was one she could only describe as a communicating one; it was clear that whatever message they were sending each other was one of love and strength.

It was the exact strength Jack used to say, haltingly, "Sorry, I had to, to help you prepare. I know what death is. I want you to be ready."

"There's nothing. Just darkness," Owen croaked.

"Two minutes," Ianto reported.

Owen's body with rigid with fear at the time, "Jack, Jack."

Jack took Owen's hand and squeezed it tightly. The motion was familiar to Kayla. He had done it when they had first left the Time Agency she had expressed her fears of being caught. Even the words, "be brave," where an echo of his response. Without truly thinking about it, she drew onto those words like she had then, allowing them to give her the ability to see, for a second time, the horrible sight of a dead Owen Harper.

The heart monitor showed that head was dead, but Jack's gentle movements as he dropped his gloved hand to his side still felt like a blow to the gut. Kayla doubted he was even aware that his other hand was still holding Owen's, but she firmly decided not to be the one to tell him. That would break the heavy, mournful silence that was weighing down on the Torchwood Team and Martha, and right now, Kayla knew it was a silence that was needed.

The only person who would have ever broken a silence like that was Owen, which made it so ironic when he did just that.

"I'm really gonna need that hand back."

The splutter from Gwen, scream from Tosh, horrified gasp from Martha, and curse from Kayla that followed this dry comment from Owen didn't dispel the fearful tension that immediately replaced the mournful silence as soon as Owen opened his eyes.

"Owen?" Jack croaked out.

"Two minutes twenty."

Jack stared down at the glove and lifted it up so everyone, including Owen, could see it, "Look, I'm not using the glove."

"But I'm still here."

Staring at the glove, Jack jerked it off and threw it to the ground. When Owen started to sit up, Jack stepped back carefully, a look in his eyes Kayla recognized as the one he would have when he was meeting a new species; it was one that was assessing, one that was meant to figure out if the person in front of him was a friend or foe.

Kayla knew the others weren't watching Jack. They were too busy watching Owen, who was still speaking, "Maybe I cheated it somehow. Maybe I wasn't meant to die so I'm being kept alive," he paused in his suggestions to swing his legs down, only to grimace and look down his body, "Ah, somebody pass me my pants, please," another glance downwards made him flinch, "Whoa!"

Slowly moving around the table to stand in front of him, Jack gave Owen a half-hearted, bracing smile, "It's okay. I hate to say it, but you'll get used to it," he placed a hand on Owen's shoulder, but Kayla could still seeing that assessing look in his eyes. She couldn't help but wonder what side he would decide this new version of Owen landed on.

Everyone had questions, of course. Confusion was the natural reaction to have when a co-worker comes back to life without a heart beat. The main question was obvious: Why the hell was Owen alive? Under that main question, Jack ordered an investigation to take place, one that he placed Martha in charge of. No one had told Owen this, so as soon as he pulled on his pants and trousers, he grabbed his stethoscope and used it on himself, reporting the obvious lack of heartbeat and pulse.

Martha quickly stepped in front of Owen and said firmly, "Owen, you can't lead the investigation."

"Why not?"

"Because you're the subject of it," Martha pointed out before adding quickly, "and because you're dead."

Owen frowned, "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Well, I'm okay," he paused and then grabbed a scanner and scanned himself with it. Eyeing the results briefly, he handed them Martha, "Look, there's electrical activity in my brain."

"That shouldn't be possible," Martha protested, though her voice was noticeably weaker as she looked at the results herself.

"Well, I'm still here, and actually, I feel amazing."

Still following after him, Martha glanced back and forth between the results and Owen before she paused and frowned, "So where's the power coming from?"

"Suzie survived because she was draining energy from me. Owen could be doing the same to Jack," Gwen suggested.

Kayla looked over at Jack, only to see him shrug, "I feel fine."

"I felt fine at first too," Gwen reminded him, "It only kicked in later."

Their immediate scan of Jack, however, provided no answers. There was no connection between Jack and Owen like the one Gwen and Suzie had had. Jack rolled his eyes at the results and huffed, "I  _told_ you, I feel fine."

"So what's keeping me ticking? I mean, the energy in my brain must be coming from somewhere."

"This glove is different to the other one. Maybe different gloves do different things?" Ianto suggested.

"What happened to its pair?" Kayla wondered suddenly after glancing over at Owen.

"It was destroyed," Jack answered quickly.

Kayla frowned and crossed her arms, not liking the tone Jack had, "Are there any other ones?"

"No. Just two."

As Jack waggled two fingers, Ianto remarked dryly, "They do tend to come in pairs."

"That sounds like a guess," when no one responded to her, Kayla huffed, "Do you guys even know where the gloves are from?"

The Time Lady nearly exploded when not one person, not even Tosh, could answer her question. What kind of stupid person would decide to use a random glove without even knowing what it did or where it was from? She nearly screamed at the entire group but was stopped by Martha placing a careful hand on her shoulder and saying quite pointedly that she was  _sure_ Torchwood would run some tests and that Kayla could stay by the glove if it made her happy.

Wisely, no one protested Martha's carefully worded suggestion.

* * *

Surprisingly, though, Kayla was not next to the glove for long. Tosh was practically buzzing with happiness as she started to run the tests when, suddenly, Martha's voice, shrill with fear, echoed through the Hub, "Jack, help! I need help now!"

Barely a second later, Kayla was sprinting to Martha. She had taken Owen to the autopsy area to run tests on him, but it was clear  _something_ had gone wrong. That something was, of course, Owen. When Kayla arrived, she found him collapsed on the floor with Martha and a just-arrived Jack kneeling next to him.

"Owen, can you hear me? Calm down," Martha was saying when Kayla knelt down next to her. She was slowly helping Owen get up, and on the surface at least, he seemed okay. Clearly panicked, but okay.

"What happened?" Jack asked.

"I was in the darkness. There was something, something there-" Owen panted; his eyes weren't on Jack, Martha, or even Kayla. They continually flicked around the room as if the  _something_ was about to come out of the shadows.

"What did you see?" Martha asked.

Owen just shook his head, "I don't know. It was waiting for me."

It came as a surprise to Kayla when Owen started to cry, and by the way Jack and Martha stiffened, it must have been a surprise to them as well. Jack was the first to recover, however, and he quickly gathered Owen into a hug, "Come on. It's all right."

* * *

Once Owen had calmed down, the Torchwood team and Martha met in the conference room for Martha to give her report about Owen. The situation, Kayla found out, was far more serious than any of them, including herself, had previously thought. Owen's body was  _changing_ at a rapid pace. He was only 60% human, and that number was quickly shrinking according to Martha's calculations. This wasn't the worse bit of information, however, because Owen changing into something else, if they knew what it was, wouldn't be that bad; it at least would be fixable. Team Torchwood, however, did not know what Owen was changing into, and the idea of a suddenly hostile _thing_ in their mist was very concerning.

All the group had to go off of was the glove, but the only thing Tosh had been able to come up with was that it was  _not_ local. That was somewhat helpful, because it could have been something Torchwood One or even UNIT had created, but it still didn't answer  _where_ the glove and Owen's mysterious energy was coming from.

"Owen said he went somewhere when he collapsed. Could the energy and the glove come from the same dark place?" Gwen suggested with a shrug.

"What are we talking about? Another dimension? Parallel universe?" Jack asked, only to receive a shrug in answer from Gwen.

From his seat, Owen huffed and crossed his arms, "Yes, guys, I'm still here."

For a moment, at least, Jack looked disappointed with himself, "Sorry," once Owen had nodded in a curt acceptance of the apology, Jack continued to speak, though this time he was careful to address Owen, "Okay, you said there was something in the darkness waiting for you."

"I felt it," Owen said slowly, "I didn't see it." If anyone noticed that Owen's tone of voice was far weaker and shakier than it had been moments before, they didn't say.

"Where do you think it went?" Jack wondered.

"I don't know."

No one had anything else to add, so the meeting was ended with a curt nod and an order to Tosh to regularly update Jack about her findings. With everything done, the team wandered off; Jack went to his office with Kayla trailing behind him, Gwen went back to her work station, Martha went to the Autopsy room, and Tosh followed after Owen for some unknown reason – though if Kayla were to guess, she would link it to the "I love you," Tosh had said to Owen before he had died.

For a bit, all was calm in the Hub. Kayla had already given her recommendation to Jack about what they should do with Owen and was about to leave – unsurprisingly, it was to keep him in the Hub with someone watching him always – when Martha came in with a scanner and a frown, "Have you seen Owen?"

"He should be with Tosh," Kayla answered, "Martha, what's wrong?"

"The energy in him just went off the scale."

That one report made Kayla and Jack jump to their feet. The three of them ran into the Hub, "Owen? Owen?"

Tosh looked up from her computer with a frown, "He said he needed the loo."

"Owen's digestive system's shut down. He can't eat or drink, so he certainly doesn't need to pee," Martha pointed out.

Jack, not wasting any time, sprinted over to the toilets' door and pounded on it. Of course, there was no answer, so Jack turned and slipped into his coat with the help of Ianto.

"Well, he's not in the Hub," Gwen pointed out.

"You mean he's out there?"

Jack shrugged, "It's Owen. It's not like he's dangerous."

"At the moment, at least," Kayla added darkly, earning herself a swift glare from Jack.

Surprisingly, for Martha had always been an optimistic person, she nodded in agreement to Kayla, "She's right.  _You_ had the power to bring people back to life and you never told UNIT. Why?"

Jack crossed his arms, "They would've wanted to use it."

Martha glared at him for the answer, but didn't bother refuting it, "I'm on your side, Jack, but Owen's just had a surge of energy that we can't begin to understand. The cells in his body are being transformed into something else. He's about fifty percent human, and that fifty percent is dead. We need to stop thinking about him as Owen."

"Martha, we'll find him," Kayla reassured.

If Jack didn't like her inclusion, he didn't protest it as the two ran out of the Hub to start searching for their dead medic.

* * *

Kayla had almost forgotten that it was still nighttime in Cardiff; the exact same night as when Owen had been shot, in fact. All the time that had passed felt far too long to somehow fit into hours, but the sky and the stars don't lie, and it dark outside of the Hub save for the lights.

It was easy to find Owen in the end. He was still wearing the monitor, and its beacon was taking them to a disco that Kayla vaguely recognized as a good place to get lots of cheap alcohol. It was the perfect place for Owen to be, so she and Jack went into it. Over the loud rhythm of some trashy song and the flashy lights, it was hard for Kayla and Jack to see or hear for several minutes. They still had to shout to be heard, but it wasn't like anyone noticed or cared. Through their shouts, they agreed to go to the bar, but before they were even halfway there, Owen ran into Jack.

"How did you find me?" When Jack and Kayla didn't answer his question, Owen looked down at the monitor on his wrist and scowled at it and then at Jack and Kayla, "Get off me, Jack. Do you know what you've done? You don't care about me. You brought me back for an alarm code!"

"That's not why I brought you back."

"Have you any idea what it means to know that your life is over? That that was it! That is Owen Harper's contribution to the world! You idiot!"

Owen lunged at Jack, but Kayla quickly pulled him off with a hasty glance at the people who were noticing their fight. She was too late to prevent any notifications, and within moments she had to let go of Owen as security surrounded the three of them and dragged them off, ignoring Jack's protests to be careful with Owen. Kayla doubted the guards could even hear him, and if they  _could,_ she doubted they would be careful thanks to the continuing steam of protests, mixed with insults, that Owen flung at the security guards, "Get off me, you meat head. Get off!"

The protests from Owen didn't end there, and all Kayla could do was growl in annoyance as Owen started to mouth-off to the police they were handed off to, making them be rougher with Owen than they were with Jack or herself. As the cuffs were placed on their wrists, Owen had the sudden realization that this  _was_ happening and his protests meant nothing, so he tried a different tactic to get out of going to jail. He shouted that he was a Torchwood medic, which caused the police officers to laugh and push him into the car, his attempt failing. Judging by the glare he sent to Kayla and Jack, it was clear he blamed their lack of help about their status as Torchwood employee's, and boss in Jack's case, on them getting dragged to jail.

But Owen was not one to give up easily, and despite the clear loss cause it was, he continued to protest as the three of them were pushed into a cell to sober up. Even in the cell, Owen yelled his protests for at least ten minutes before he started to kick the door and shout the number for the Hub, "You call that number! You speak to Police Constable Gwen Cooper! I want to make a complaint!"

The nonstop shouting from Owen was about to make Kayla start to scream at him, but Jack beat her to any actions when he stood up, crossed his arms, and started to speak to Owen as if he was a child throwing a tantrum, "Enough. You're dead. You break your ankle, what are the chances it'll knit back together? You want to add a wheelchair to your problems?"

Sighing very loudly, Owen sat down next to Jack and Kayla on the bench, only to wince as his stomach gave an alarming gurgle of protest. It kept gurgling until Owen rotated so he was standing on his head. At Jack's and Kayla's horrified looks, Owen seemed to attempt to shrug, "I forgot. My digestive system's shut down. That alcohol I drank is just going to sit in my stomach, it won't go anywhere."

"Can you stick your fingers down your throat?" Jack slowly suggested.

"I'm dead. It's just another one of those things, the gag reflex, lost in the process," he paused as his stomach gave another loud gurgle, "Hang on, hang on, if I can just line up my esophagus..." In a disgusting display of the human body, Owen regurgitated all the alcohol he had previously drank; it went across the cell, thankfully, but that didn't stop Jack and Kayla from lifting their feet to get away from the quickly forming puddle.

When it was finally done, Jack slowly put his feet down, "That is the single most disgusting thing I have ever seen, and I know disgusting."

Turning himself right-side-up, Owen winced as he released a long fart, "Sorry. I forgot that goes on for a while after death," he sighed heavily and shook his head, "But eventually that will stop too. I will fart my last fart. God, I'm going to miss farting, and sex."

"I think you should miss sex more than farting," Kayla commented dryly.

Owen laughed, but it was one that held no true mirth, "Oh, you take these things for granted. It's only when they're slipping away that you realize how amazing they are," he shook his head, "This could be the last time I see these flecks or you know, feel these bricks underneath my hands."

"'Only in suffering do we recognize beauty,'" Jack quoted.

"Yeah," Owen said slowly, "Yeah, yeah!" He paused and then gave Jack a very suspicious look, "Who said that?"

"Proust."

"You've read Proust?"

Jack shrugged, "Yeah. Well, no. We dated for a while. He was really immature."

Owen just shook his head, "You know, none of us know whether to take you seriously when you say those things."

"Excluding me, of course," at the sidelong look Owen gave her, Kayla just crossed her arms, "Jack  _knows_ to never lie to me."

Jack shrugged, "I never lie anyways. When you've lived as long as I have, you don't make any more up."

"You've got forever, I could have seconds," Owen pointed, "Hardly seems fair."

"Forever is completely overrated. You can do a lot of meaningful things in a normal lifetime, but when you've got unlimited time, those meaningful things seem short-term and wasted when they're actually  _so_ much more," Owen looked up from staring at the floor to eye Kayla, but the Time Lady was done talking about life, so all she did was repeat, "Forever's overrated."

Despite having been somewhat moved by her words, Owen still frowned and responded, "Not from where I'm sitting."

"If you've got forever, you don't notice the flecks on the concrete or bother to touch the bricks. And you send your friends into danger, knowing the stakes aren't the same for you, that you might get them killed while you walk away unscathed," Jack said, the personal weight to it making it clear that he was talking about himself and not about any hypothetical people.

The comment made Owen sigh heavily and give Jack a long, long look, "Then why did you bring me back? Guilt?"

"No, that's not why."

"Then why did you?  _Really."_

Jack sighed and placed a hand on Owen's shoulder, "Because I wasn't ready to give up on you. I guess I was hoping for a miracle. And I still am," getting to his feet, he gave his former employee a bracing smile, "Let's go home."

Neither Owen or Kayla protested as Jack knocked on the cell door and shouted, "Torchwood. Authorization, Harkness, Jack. Four seven four three one seven."

* * *

**Honestly, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. It's a pretty great episode, and I loved having Kayla in it. Her role is a lot more supporting than an actual main character, but I felt like it was important for Kayla to be around during this important switch in the Torchwood team. Since she's going to leave soon, I wanted to make sure that she was able to leave Torchwood with the knowledge that everyone is okay, because otherwise it wouldn't be the clean break and she would be constantly thinking about them and whether or not they need her help.**

**I had a lot of trouble writing Kayla, and I was debating about not continuing this series so I could work on other ones I felt more passionate about, but I've become really proud of how Kayla has grown and I fully plan on continuing her series up until where I've decided it will end.**


	23. Dead Man Walking Pt. 2

Kayla should have known getting back to the Hub would not be simple. When was  _anything_ simple with Torchwood? Everything had seemed fine when they left the police building, but as soon as they reached the SUV, which was parked in an alley, there were issues of the Weevil variety. A lot of issues of the Weevil variety, in fact.

"Oh shit."

Jack did not curse like Kayla did. He just sighed heavily at the sight, "There's too many of them. They're after me, I stole the glove from them."

Unfortunately, the Weevils noticed them. They started to creep towards them, a growl coming from deep within their throats.

Kayla shouted the only word she could think of, "Run!"

No one needed to be told twice. Owen, Jack, and Kayla ran as fast they could, but they were quickly trapped by dumpsters, blocking their attempt to get away from the approaching Weevils.

"Whoa! They must be really pissed off with you."

Eyeing the dumpsters, Kayla climbed up and dropped down on the other side, "Hurry!"

Once Jack and Owen had dropped down as well, the trio ran into a multi-story car park which was, thankfully, Weevil free.

"Owen, Kayla, stay here!" Jack ordered. But that order turned out to be in vain as first one, then five Weevils arrived behind them.

This time, Kayla didn't need to shout to run. The trio were automatically sprinting up to the top and then backed into the corner, watching as the Weevils continued to approach them.

"Get behind me," Jack commanded, only to receives two glares.

"Yeah, right," Owen snapped.

It turned out, however, that Jack did not need to block Owen and Kayla from the Weevils. A few yards in front of them, the Weevil stopped, got to their knees, and  _cowered_ in front of them. There was truly only one explanation for this behavior, and Kayla knew it was not her status as a Time Lady or Jack's status as undying. The only thing that had changed was Owen's status as dead.

"Owen, what the hell is going on?" Jack hissed as Owen moved to the front of their group.

Owen didn't answer; the reason for this became apparent when Jack and Kayla got a glimpse of his pitch black, unnerving eyes, "Melkurian abatha duroc minus mill kabal."

* * *

In a miraculous feat, Owen, Kayla, and Jack became the first people to ever walk away from a Weevil hoard and live to tell the tale. Unfortunately, this was  _not_ a good thing. When the group had arrived back at the Hub, they were greeted by Ianto, Tosh, Gwen, and Martha translating some words Owen had spoke earlier, the same words he had spoken when he had stopped the Weevils.

" _I shall walk the Earth and my hunger will know no bounds,"_ the computer had  _just_ translated.

No one spoke for several minutes until Gwen deadpanned, "I've got a really bad feeling about this."

Even with this sort of concern, Jack  _still_ found a way to make an entrance, "You don't know the half of it."

And from  _there,_ things got worse. Owen, it seemed, was not just  _dead,_ but Death itself. Or at least Death's champion. It had happened before, in the small parish of Saint James during the fifteenth century when the black plague was hitting everything.

"When they heard about the plague, they built a wall around the town. Unfortunately, that didn't prevent a little girl from dying. So the legend goes, the priest performs a miracle, brings her back to life, but she doesn't come back alone. She brought Death with her, and he walked amongst them," Gwen explained from the research she had happened to find.

"What was the name of the church?" Jack asked.

Frowning, Gwen tapped at her computer for several second and then looked up, "Saint Mary's."

Jack looked down at the conference table for a long moment, "That's where I found the glove," he admitted heavily, "which makes the parish of Saint James-"

"The town that five hundred years later would turn into a city called Cardiff," Gwen finished for him.

Usually, during meetings in the conference room, Owen was reclining in his chair with his feet up and a bored expression. This meeting, Owen's behavior was far different. He was sitting stiffly in his chair with his hands clenching onto the arm rests. Kayla was surprised he even spoke at all, though she supposed it made sense, "What happened to the town when Death walked amongst them?"

"People died. Twelve people. Death needed thirteen souls before it had a permanent hold on the Earth."

"Why did it only stop at twelve?" Kayla asked, her arms crossing at the cutoff.

Gwen shrugged helplessly, "It just says faith."

"Owen is changing. Who knows what that energy is? What if it's making him a host, a gateway?"

Owen swallowed hard at Martha's suggestion, but still found the ability to speak, "I've been thinking there's something in the darkness, waiting for me to finally pass over, but I've got it wrong, okay? It's the other way around. It's trying to get here through me," as if punctuating the concern, Owen's monitor beeped on his wrist, and Martha anxiously reported the new number of 80%, "What happens when it completes? You know, we fight monsters. What happens when we turn out to be the monsters, when I do?"

Jack made sure Owen was meeting his eyes before he answered, "Even if we have to fight you, you're already dead."

"What do we do with the dead?" When no one responded, Owen huffed and shook his head, "Come on, what do we do? You embalm them. If we inject a formaldehyde solution into my veins, it'll petrify my neural pathways and freeze dry my brain. It's the only way to be sure."

Kayla was surprised when Jack didn't protest. She got up to go and help the process of making the solution, but quickly found herself comforting Tosh while Ianto went to go make a bracing cup of tea for her. She kept her arm around her fellow coworker when Gwen led Owen through the Hub, to the autopsy table. He was strapped in as only 5% Owen and 95% Death.

"Let's not waste any more time. No goodbyes," Owen ordered on the table.

Despite this, Jack still checked to make sure Owen was ready with the first injection. Once Owen had consented, Martha turned to pick it up only to find an odd sight. The glove had  _moved_ and was sitting over the shots with its fingers wiggling in a threatening manner, "Someone  _really_ doesn't like needles," Jack quipped, but no one laughed. Not because the quip wasn't funny, but because the glove, as soon as Martha made an attempt to move it, leapt out at Martha in a clear form of attack.

"Lockdown!"

Kayla jumped over the railing circling the autopsy room, landing with a huff and a wince. She and Jack were able to pull the glove away from Martha, and it landed with a hearty thud that did  _not_ deter it from coming after Martha again. Scrambling, Kayla practically dragged Martha up the stairs and away from the glove while Jack gave out orders. For a moment, all was still. But from behind Kayla, Martha leaned over the railing and the glove  _flew_ up and slapped onto her face. Kayla could barely get it off of her, but once it was gone at  _least_ it was destroyed. Kayla would have liked to have done it herself, because the damage it had done to Martha – aging her at an impossible fast rate – was a far too familiar crime for her to see occur  _again_ while somehow keeping composed.

"It's the glove. It did this to her. Owen, help Kayla with her. Owen!"

Kayla looked over at the shout and felt her mouth drop open and all the air rush out of her as Owen's monitor beeped loudly and Owen's eyes turned jet black, "I will walk the Earth and my hunger will know no bounds," as soon as he was done, a horrifying visual nightmare insured as smoke came out of Owen's mouth and eyes solidified into a form Kayla could barely make out before it vanished, and Owen collapsed. At the exact same time, Martha gasped and fell into Kayla's arms.

* * *

There was little discussion on what to do next. After seeing some sort of smoke creature come out of Owen, none of the team felt okay with trusting him to look after the now elderly Martha, so she was brought to the hospital by the entire Torchwood team, which still included Owen. It seemed safer to bring him with them instead of leaving him to his own devices. Besides, Tosh's scans in the SUV showed as 100% normal, so that had to mean  _something._

Kayla, though, did not have time to investigate  _what_ that something meant. She had more pressing matters, such as getting Martha into a hospital bed and demanding the best care for her former companion. Gwen's cover story of concerned neighbors worked, and the group was allowed to wait anxiously in the room with Martha as her vitals were tested and looked over.

When the doctor returned with the results, Kayla blanched at the grim look on his face, "Her red blood cell count is through the floor and she's massively dehydrated. All of which has placed a considerable strain on her heart."

"You  _have_ to help her," Kayla countered, her arms crossing.

The doctor sighed heavily, "We are, but you have to accept she's, what, eighty?" He frowned at the snarled look Kayla gave her. Perhaps, if Gwen hadn't stepped in and diffused the situation, Kayla would have attacked him right then and there. Instead, he was able to quickly leave the room.

Turning to Martha, Kayla grabbed a chair and sat down next to it, so she was at her bedside. She took Martha's hand and squeezed it gently. Someone had given Martha a mirror, and she was touching her face with her free hand with a horrified expression, "It must be Death, because it's stolen my life."

"I'll fix this, Martha. You know I've faced worse odds."

Martha attempted to laugh at Kayla's statement, but the laugh turned into a dry, brittle cough that was subdued with gulps of water. The damage was still done, however, and Martha sagged into the bed, her energy depleted. She quickly fell asleep under the watchful eye of a very angry Time Lady.

A Time Lady who got to her feet and glared at Owen, "Where did it go?"

"It's here," Jack answered grimly. When Kayla turned to him, he wordlessly pointed out of the window. Stepping towards it, Kayla looked down to see a massive horde of Weevils converging on the hospital.

"Why would it follow us here?"

"People die all the time at hospitals, Gwen," Kayla pointed out sharply, "If you were Death, you'd come to one as well."

As if to underline her words, there was a sudden commotion outside. Gwen stuck her head out of the room and came back pale and wide-eyed. She reported in a shaking voice that there had been a sudden, mass flatline in a female ward and the staff there was panicking and calling for help.

His face dark, Jack stared out at the hallway for a long moment, "We need to evacuate the hospital," he finally declared.

No one argued with him.

No one argued with Kayla about staying with Martha either. She wouldn't do any good running around trying to hunt down death, and though she, Jack, Ianto, and Martha didn't vocalize it, the idea of Death seeping the power off of a Time Lady was a chilling one. Would she count as one death or more? Would she be used like a battery; forced to regenerate over and over and over again until she was a withered skeleton like the ones the Torchwood team had encountered?

So she stayed and helped Ianto with research. He was having little luck, grumbling about how he was getting redirected to a weight watchers site, but Kayla found it soon enough by adding the medical information to it. She quickly found the link Gwen must have used, but another one, on a far less scholarly website, gave the answer.

Death had come to the village not because of vengeance, but because a soul was stolen from him. He wanted to teach the villagers a lesson and decided to kill them all. The villagers were terrified and theorized that he would have ultimate power if he killed 13 people, the same number as Christ and his apostles. Faith had saved them, in the end, but not in the way the team had originally theorized, for Faith was not an idea, but a person. Faith was the girl who had been brought back to life, and she confronted Death. He tried to kill her, but he couldn't. Death withered away without any power and vanished from the town and Faith was never seen again.

Kayla quickly relayed the details to the team, and then she and Ianto waited. When the screams about Owen came through the comms., they both tried to reach the team, but there was no answer.

Suddenly, there was a noise in the room. Kayla looked up to see Martha returned to normal and shifting in the bed. With a cry of her name, Kayla leapt from the couch and gathered Martha into a hug that the other woman easily returned. Despite having not heard from the Torchwood team, it was clear that once again, Death had been beaten back by Faith.

* * *

**Really short chapter, I know. But I couldn't see Kayla running around while Martha potentially died. Plus, I feel like Death would zero in on her because she's a Time Lady, so I felt like it was best if she didn't be around something that would try and kill her.**

**Honestly, the second half of this chapter/episode, isn't great. But next week's will be better! Plus, I also finished writing this book, so I can now get started on Galaxy!**


	24. A Day in Death Pt. 1

The day had started out fairly simple. Owen was relieved from duty by Jack and Kayla was assigned to watch over him. He had not reacted well to either change.

"Bollocks. I'm sorry, Jack, this is bollocks."

"Owen, you died three days ago. There's no way to know if you're okay until examinations are run by Martha."

Owen sent Kayla a glare, "I don't need you to chime in,  _babysitter."_

"This can either be easier or hard, but it  _will_ happen."

"If you refuse you'll be confined to the cells, the tests will be done, and if the results show that you're a danger to the team, appropriate steps will be taken," Jack sighed heavily, "I'm asking you, Owen. Please, let us help you. Let us make sure you're safe."

Glaring at Jack and Kayla, Owen handed over his gun and his security pass. He crossed his arms once he was done, "And how long are Doctor Jones's tests going to take?"

"As long as they need to."

"And what the hell am I supposed to do in the meantime?"

"We always need someone to make coffee."

* * *

There were not many perks Kayla could think of when it came to watching Owen Harper, but watching him learn how to make coffee, a coffee that was handed to her once it was done, was definitely one of them.

She was leaning against the back counter, barely paying attention as Owen struggled to pull down the lever. After several attempts, Ianto wondered, "You okay?"

"What do you think?" Owen snapped. He turned away from the coffee machine to glare at Ianto, "I bet you're loving this, aren't you? It's like you've finally won."

"I didn't realize we were in competition."

"Oh, come on," Owen spat, "Even Tosh had more of a life than you used to. And now you're always out on missions, you're shagging Jack and I'm stuck here making the coffee."

While Ianto didn't turn bright red, the way most men would when their relationship with someone was flaunted in front of their partner's daughter, he did suddenly refuse to look over at Kayla  _at all,_ something that Owen thankfully didn't notice.

She doubted that Owen would take her relationship to Jack well.

"It's not like that, me and Jack," Ianto informed Owen very quickly.

Owen rolled his eyes, "You and Jack. Gwen's getting married. Martha's got her bloke. God, even Tosh had Tommy," he paused and then looked over at Kayla, "What about you?"

Kayla raised an eyebrow at the question, "Married," she remarked simply.

Owen kicked a cabinet, "This is shit," he declared.

"We've all gone through shit. I've seen you dissect alien corpses. I've seen you save so many lives. Are you really going to let this beat you?"

Owen didn't speak until long after Ianto had walked off with the cups of freshly brewed coffee.

"What's next babysitter?"

With a heavy sigh, Kayla lead Owen over to Martha and then, after assessing that the tests would take a while, and that unlike with Owen's coffee lessons there was nothing pleasurable that Kayla could get out of staying and watching, she went over to her workstation.

* * *

Of course, life went on in the Hub. It quickly became apparent that the only time Kayla had to watch Owen was at his flat. Otherwise, neither of the two saw the need for Kayla to follow him around like a shadow, though the Time Lady had warned Owen that if he left the Hub without her, there would be hell to pay.

Wisely, Owen did not leave the Hub without her.

So, with no huge concern about Owen, Kayla was able to balance her babysitting and her job as a Torchwood employee fairly well. The first meeting she rejoined without Owen was normal and  _very_ boring.

Henry Parker was an elderly man who liked to collect random things. Torchwood had been monitoring him since the 60s, when he became a recluse collector after his wife died and had never found anything to be alarmed by. Until now, of course. Earlier that morning, Tosh had detected a huge, unknown energy spike at the man's house.

"Okay. So, the big question is, what's our Mister Parker gone and found this time?" Gwen wondered.

"Why? Do you think he's a threat?"

Gwen quickly shook her head and summarized Parker's past for Martha. When she was done, surprisingly – not really, the more Kayla thought about it – Owen jumped into the discussion, "We've been monitoring Parker for ages. There's nothing to be scared of is there?"

"Unlike, say, Tintin?"

"Okay, I never liked Tintin. What, he's weird. Funny face and his hair is just horrible."

"I always loved Tintin."

"Yeah, well, you would. And he never had a girlfriend did he, just the dog. So I reckon he was actually shagging the dog."

"Okay, meanwhile, back at Torchwood," Jack cut in loudly, "Alien energy pulse. We've got to check this Parker out, okay? Tosh, can you get me a complete schematic of the house? Ianto, find out exactly what he's got. Get me an inventory of everything that he's bought over the last ten years. Martha, can you get a hold of his medical history?"

With that done, everyone got up to leave. For a moment, Kayla lingered in the room, but then Tosh called out to her and she left, a slight pang in her hearts as she realized Owen was left alone. She truly did feel bad for the former medic, but she knew the logic behind Jack's decision was sound. Until they knew more about Owen and his condition, they couldn't let him go out in the field.

* * *

"I'm not just a doctor. I'm a bloody brilliant doctor."

Kayla paused in her walking, hearing Owen's voice raised in frustration made Kayla pause in her walking She slowly stepped back, listening to Owen complain about how Martha was taking his job. She peeked into the room when the conversation died down, but Owen was  _less than_ calm considered he was cutting his hand with a scalpel.

As his babysitter, Kayla had not reacted well. Even Martha had said she had overreacted when Kayla asked her about her opinion of the situation.

As soon as Owen started cutting his hand, Kayla barreled into the room and grabbed both of Owen's wrists, stopping him from doing any more damage. She was vaguely aware of Martha squeaking and Owen grunting, but Kayla didn't truly care. Her concern was to stop Owen from hurting himself, which she only defined as done once the scalpel was on the floor and kicked under a cabinet for good measure. Only then did she step away from Owen and allowed Martha to get Owen to agree to getting his new wound stitched up.

"The wound's not going to heal, so, you're going to have to re-stitch it every week or so. At least you don't need anesthetic."

Owen rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I can't feel anything. I can't feel the needle or thread. I can't feel your hands on mine. Yet, I can touch things, I can hold them. I know they're there, but I just can't feel anything. I'm numb."

"This is why you're not allowed in the field," Kayla said; the first words she had spoken since her dramatic entrance made Owen huff in annoyance, but surprisingly not interrupt, "Besides the obvious mental health concerns, your wounds won't heal. If you break your bones, they will remain broken, and if you get a wound it will never heal."

"Yeah, well, I'd better get used to doing things myself," Owen snapped. Grabbing the stitching equipment from Martha, Owen started to carefully address the wounds himself.

As soon as he was done, he marched out of the room with a determined expression on his face. Glancing to Martha, Kayla quickly followed Owen out of the room and to Jack's office. As she had guessed, Owen demanded for  _some_ sort of job. Anything to make him feel more important. Of course, Jack declined, but when Owen snapped that he would just go home, Kayla winced in an almost-sympathy as Jack said that he could.

"What exactly do I do when I get there?" Owen wondered, his voice no longer defensive but deflated.

Defeated.

"Watch TV. Chill. Play checkers with Kayla."

While Jack ignored the glare he was suddenly receiving from Kayla at the conformation that she would be forced to continue to babysit Owen at his flat, Owen just huffed in a disappointedly mild annoyance, "Jack, I'm dead. I'm permanently chilled. You know, you get to live forever. I get to die forever. It's funny that."

* * *

Of course, Jack got what he wanted, and only a few hours later, one could find Kayla and Owen sitting in Owen's flat and watching TV.

" _Oh, hello! Welcome to To Buy Or Not To Buy, the property show that lets you indulge in your long-"_ whatever the announcer was going to say next was cut off by Owen's decision to mute the TV and instead look at some handheld electronic that Martha had tried, and failed, to explain to Kayla why it was so special.

The other electronic did nothing to hold his attention either, and Owen quickly slammed it down and went over to the refrigerator and emptied it into a trashcan  _very_ nosily, and then he did the same with the bathroom cabinet.

If Kayla had been doing anything, she would have complained about the noise, but she was also bored out of her mind, so watching Owen clean out his flat of things he no longer needed was a nice reprieve.

So was the knock on the door and Owen's huffy reveal of Tosh with the go-to pizza of Torchwood Three. A pizza that was quickly attacked by Kayla even as Tosh asked Owen, "Do you mind if I eat? I'm starving."

Rolling his eyes, Owen agreed. Then, with a cross of his arms, he snapped, "So, Jack asked you to come round, did he? Talk to Owen. Get him to open up, godammit."

"You haven't changed, have you. It's all about Owen. I've actually had a hell of a morning, you know. Do you have a-"

"Top drawer."

"So, Jack calls me in at five this morning. He could have waited until I got in, but no, strange energy spike and it's let's get Tosh in. Oh, and when Gwen got in, first thing she did? Say sorry for not asking me to be bridesmaid. I mean, me, a bridesmaid?"

As Owen noticeably tuned Tosh out, Kayla listened as Tosh described her effort to understand this strange energy spike, how she had realized it was a message from the stars, had translated it, and found out that it was just something in the very human language of Croatian.

"Why are you here, Tosh?" Owen snapped.

Tosh swallowed hard and glanced at Kayla, but the Time Lady's responding shrug was less than helpful. Like a deer in headlights, Tosh looked at Owen with wide, concerned eyes, "I want to help you."

Owen scoffed loudly, "And how are you going to do that? How are you going to help me? I mean, am I going to be a new special project?" As Tosh tried to protest, Owen cut her off harshly, "That's not why you're here is it? For some reason you want me. You know, I don't know why, but you always have. You're always looking at me, watching me screw all those other women, your heart breaking and now it's different, because I'm safe now, aren't I? And it's all cozy and it's romantic and isn't it beautiful, you know?"

"You can say what you like. I'm not leaving you," Tosh said firmly, though the noticeable waiver in her voice cut doubt into just how firm she was on this stance.

A doubt that Owen took and ran with, "Well, of course, not. This is it, isn't it? This is the date that we were talking about. You know, you've got your beer, you've got pizza, you and me. It's just how you wanted it. All we need now is a sodding pool table and to kick Kayla out."

"Stop it! What's wrong with you?"

"I'm broken, Tosh! I don't work. I've got no heartbeat, no feelings, no tears. I have got nothing to give you. Do you understand that? Maybe that's what you want. Maybe you want somebody who's as screwed up as you. Who's twisted and screwed up like you are. Well, you want to see broken? Do you want to see broken, Tosh?"

Quickly, Owen broke his pinky on his already harmed finger, earning loud protest from Tosh. As he noticed Kayla moving towards him, he ran out of the flat and the Time Lady gave chase. She chased him all the way to the harbor that he jumped into it. With a sigh, she sat down on the dock and waited for him to come back up.

* * *

**Not many notes because it's late and I recently had surgery. I'm not super proud of this chapter, but I think the episode is a weak one without the stuff with just Owen, but I can't see Kayla doing that with him.**


	25. A Day in Death Pt. 2

It had been over thirty minutes since Owen had jumped into a body of water, and he had yet to return. Kayla had chased him there, and she was still sitting in the same spot, only now Jack was next to her. She had explained what happened, though Jack had received most of the story from a near hysterical Tosh who had called as soon as Owen and Kaya had run out of the flat.

"Taking him off duty just made it worse," Kayla said as she finished her account, "Now he has no purpose and he's stuck that way."

"He can't be on duty. Not until we know more."

"I know."

They sat in silence for six minutes, waiting…waiting…waiting.

Finally, Owen reappeared. Absolutely soaked, he climbed onto the pier and looked at Jack and Kayla, who were watching him in silence. None of the parties spoke for several moments until Jack finally broke the heavy silence, "Thirty six minutes. Not bad."

"You were watching?"

"Skinny guy in tight jeans runs into water? I was taking pictures," he chuckled at his own line, but he quickly sobered up to ask, seriously, "How long's this going to go on for, Owen?"

The answer to Jack's question, which Owen never answered and instead wordlessly walked away from, was revealed a few days later. The alien collector Parker, an elderly man who liked to collect anything strange and interesting to him, had come upon something that was causing growing energy spikes. This wouldn't necessarily be a problem if it weren't for the fact that the spikes had grown dangerously large.

"Right, okay, we need to get in there. Parker employs a Mister Philip Farrington to run security. There's at least six guards, CCTV everywhere, all of which we can bring down by taking out the generator. But then there's these. Heat sensors."

"As in body heat?" Martha clarified.

With pursued lips, Gwen nodded, "Yep. Solar powered. There's one on every doorway, every window."

"I assume any efforts that we could do would trigger an alarm," Kayla said. When Gwen nodded, Kayla cursed and shook her head, "Is there anyway we can just go in and explain our concern."

"We've tried that before and he refused," Ianto reported.

"So how do we get this object?"

Martha's question had an answer, but no one wanted to be one to suggest it. No one, that is, except for Owen, "Sounds like you need a dead man. Someone with no body heat."

There truly was no other option, and everyone knew that. It came as no surprise when Jack gestured in the affirmative and Owen was prepped for his next mission.

* * *

Martha, Jack, and Kayla were the ones stationed at the house while Tosh, Gwen, and Ianto stayed behind the Hub. Jack and Kayla where there for their skill at rendering guards utterly useless. Martha was there in case anyone, especially Owen, was harmed in any way possible.

It turned out, though, that their planning was really unneeded. Owen was able to get the generator turned off, and while that revealed another generator, he was still able to get past any guards and into Parker's personal room. Unable to see, Kayla, Jack, and Martha relied only on their comms. units.

It turned out that the item they had been reading was something called the Pulse. Parker, who had suffered multiple heart attacks and a failed bypass, was using it to stay alive, so no, Torchwood could not take it from him. Even when it was revealed that they had been detecting the energy spikes, Parker still refused to give it up because he believed that it was keeping him alive.

In his usual blunt manner, Owen delivered a damning blow to Parker. After presumably scanning the object, he corrected Parker about his belief. All the Pulse was doing was building up in energy.

" _You're wrong. I can feel it. No, no. I'm not going to die."_

The conversation between the already dead Owen and the nearly dead Parker was depressing to say the least. Parker didn't want to die, and Kayla could understand that fear, but that fear was also putting others at danger, a fact that Parker did not care about. And why would he? If it exploded, then he was dead, and if he didn't have it with him, then he felt he would die. Either scenario ended with him dead, but only one, at least to Parker, would keep him alive a bit longer. Like any animal, Parker was going to go with the one that prolonged his life, and while Kayla sat there judging that decision, a dark voice reminded her that Time Lords were not above doing the same.

" _There's nothing there,"_ Parker said mournfully, his voice drawing Kayla away from the pit of memories involving desperate Time Lords and drums.

" _Where?"_

" _On the other side, nothing. I'm dying. Take away my Pulse and I'm gone. My body decomposing."_

" _You can't stop it, Mister Parker. I'm sorry, but it's going to happen one day."_

" _It'll be dark and I'll be alone."_

" _Where are you now? It's dark and you're all alone, so what's the difference?"_

Kayla realized something was wrong when Parker started to lament his quality of life. But it wasn't until he passed over the Pulse that she realized the full magnitude. In the dark van the trio had been staying in, Kayla hoarsely whispered, "Parker's going to die."

And she was right. They listened in horror as Parker gave a sick gurgle. Without waiting for the order from Jack, they sprinted out of the van and ran into the house, ignoring the alarms that started going off as they entered. It was too late, however, and by the time they had reached the room, Parker was dead. The worse part, though, was that Owen, desperate to help, had tried to give CPR to Parker. But he was dead and had no breath. When Jack, Martha, and Kayla reached Parker, it was too late to help him. Owen was sitting on the bed next to him apologizing.

"I couldn't do anything," he informed them after a long silence.

It would have been nice for this to have been the end to this adventure, but Tosh's frantic voice over the comms. was a nail in that coffin,  _"Owen? Owen, can you hear me? Owen, come in!"_

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here."

" _The device, is it doing anything because the energy levels coming from it are. Owen. It's going off the screen. It's going to explode!"_

"Is there anything we can do?"

" _Nothing! There's nothing!"_

Owen looked at their faces and then nodded. "Right." He picked it up slowly and held it, hugging it to him really, "I'm going to hold it."

"Owen what are you doing?" Jack asked, his voice hoarse at the idea.

"See if I can absorb it."

Even when Tosh warned against his death, Owen was determined in his plan. Kayla realized what he was doing. Suicide was something she had seen before, but this wasn't suicide in the traditional sense. This was Owen choosing that his current, and final, state in life was something that he couldn't do anymore. It was an idea born from the same thought that Parker had when he had lamented his lack of ability to eat something like a steak. So she didn't protest as Owen gave his finals goodbyes to Martha, Jack, Ianto, Tosh, Gwen, and even  _herself._ "You were a good babysitter," he said wryly. Too touched to speak, she gave Owen a smile in response.

Kayla figured that was the last time she would ever see Owen Harper again. Standing there, determination oozing off of him, the only thought Kayla had was that Owen was truly outstanding. Perhaps  _he_ was the image the Doctor saw when he talked about how great humans were.

She could agree with that.

* * *

After everything she had seen and heard, Kayla had given up on the idea of the universe being fair. But sometimes, a very  _rare_ sometimes, the universe surprised her. This was one of those surprises. Owen, a man Kayla could easily define as one that the universe would be better off with, hadn't died that night. The Pulse had released a colorful display of harmless energy that floated out of the room, out of the door, and into the sky. What was truly odd about this energy was that it did seem to have some sort of healing properties. When it floated past the anxious trio of Martha, Jack, and Kayla, the Time Lady could feel it wash over her and soothe her. It gave her the same feeling as when the Doctor would smile at her, as if she was a wonderful, perfect person.

When Owen had walked out of the room, he wasn't smiling, but he didn't have the oppressing weight that had burdened him since his death. While he was still dead, it was clear that the Pulse had helped him mentally. Everyone could tell this, and only a few days later, Owen reclaimed his position of Torchwood medic. For the most part, he would be kept from the field, but that clearly didn't matter to him. Despite his protests and insistence that he was only happy to be relieved from his babysitter, Kayla could tell that his happiness came from being a Torchwood employee once more.

She was happy with the change in Owen's status as well, but that happiness was tainted by Martha's departure. Kayla loved seeing Martha thrive and grow into a woman that impressed her more and more. She had become the definition of the kind of person needed to be a companion of the Doctor, and Kayla would make sure that the standards set by Martha would be upheld in the future. But despite her sadness, Kayla would admit that she was somewhat relieved to see Martha off. UNIT was decidedly safer than Torchwood, and Kayla could rest somewhat easier knowing that her companion was no longer in daily danger.

Kayla's relief also had to do with Owen. As she stood outside of Torchwood's travel shop, she couldn't help but glance up at the rest of the team. In a different universe, there would be no departure because Martha would have taken the vacant spot of Torchwood medic; in that alternative universe, Owen would be truly dead. That universe, Kayla felt, would be a lesser one to live in.

Safe in her much better universe, Kayla could allow her sadness to take center stage. She hugged Martha tight, and when she reluctantly released her, she looked Martha firmly in the eyes and made her promise to stay in touch.

"Of course," Martha promised.

She gave Martha another hug, one that was quicker, and then she turned to Owen. Kayla could see that Owen was trying to smile, and while it wasn't very convincing, at least it was a start. "Well, I'm sorry, Doctor Jones. No vacancies in Cardiff just yet," he attempted to joke, but it fell flatter than usual.

Martha still gave him a small smile, as if the joke had never failed, "That's okay," I reckon you're-" she cut herself off and shook her head, "I  _was_ going to say fine, but you're a hell of a lot more than that."

"Thank you. For everything," and with that rare, serious comment, Owen followed it up with an even rarer hug to Martha.

"Oi," Jack called out when the hug went on longer than a few seconds. Roller her eyes at him, Martha still released Owen and went over to the rest of the team to give her farewells. With a slight smirk, she ended with Jack.

"Well, it's been interesting," she said dryly.

"Oh, it's been fun. You know it has," he protested with a grin.

Shaking her head ruefully, Martha stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Jack on the lips, drawing a loud bark of laughter from Kayla. Jack, naturally, took it in stride. When the fairly chaste kiss had ended, he gave Martha a smirk that made her roll her eyes and protest, "Well, everyone else has had a go."

"You can so come back any time," Jack said, and it was clear his comment was one that was serious and had nothing to do with the kiss Martha had just given him. While Kayla might have been the only one that was able to tell that from his tone of voice, she was not the only one that saw Jack take Ianto's hand right after the kiss, nor was the only one that noticed that Ianto did not leave the Hub that night.

Martha gave Jack a fond smile, "Well, maybe I will. One day," she said.

Behind her, the UNIT car pulled up. Waving at them one last time, Martha stepped into the car and was driven back to UNIT.

"Alright, what's next?"

* * *

**I am so sorry this chapter is late. I'm still recovering from surgery and I only recently started feeling focused enough to edit this chapter and post it. Despite what you may think, getting your tonsils removed is a serious thing, and the recovery is pretty hard to deal with.**

**As for this chapter, it's not super great, and I feel bad for that. I tried to add in some more stuff, but I just couldn't see Kayla taking a super active role in this episode. While I'm not super pleased with its length, I think I stayed true to Kayla, and that's all that matters in the end.**

**Also, I'll be super excited if anyone guesses the inspiration of the final line of this chapter.**


	26. Interlude 6

The last thing Kayla expected when she woke up on that Saturday in early spring was an intervention, yet that was what she had walked into.

She had gone out for a run that morning. It was completely on a whim, but she had felt antsy and had wanted something  _stronger_ than coffee or tea. Something that would burn her throat and make her stomach feel warm and her head feel fuzzy. But then the Doctor's face, long with disappointment, made her want that desire out of her head. Running had seemed like the only way to do so.

She had lost track of how long she had been gone, but by the time she actually arrived back and was slipping into the shop entrance, the heightened activity around her and the feeling of the sun beating down on her were enough evidence for her to come to the conclusion that it was no longer early morning. She cursed at herself in her head for being gone for so long; Ianto had not stayed over last night, so Jack would already be up and wondering where the  _hell_ she was. She doubted he would easily accept that she was out running, and frankly, neither would she. There would likely be a fight between them, and Kayla could already imagine his scoff of, "Since when do you run?"

Her entrance into the tourist shop managed to calm her thoughts when she glanced at the desk where Ianto usually sat. She knew that Ianto was likely in the Hub or in his flat, certainly  _not_ at the desk, yet Kayla still looked over in preparation for a brisk smile from Ianto that she would return. It was odd how her friendship with Ianto had come about. When she had first arrived at Torchwood Three, she had expected their history together to make Ianto the person she liked the least, yet now she would name him as a close friend and someone all humans should exemplify as their ideal, a definition she would give to  _all_ the employees. Even Gwen, who she had never gotten close to, was a wonderful person. When they had been on the  _Valiant,_ Jack had talked about his team with such pride and joy, and now Kayla could see why. Lately, she had started to think about telling them her true nature of a Time Lady. This alone was just an example of how much trust she had in them, but that didn't include the reason why. Just the night before, she had laid awake and had realized that she wanted the Torchwood Team to look her in the eye and see her as a Time Lady. Not because she wanted them to look up to her, but because she wanted them to see who she was truly.

If the intervention that morning had never taken place, then perhaps that Monday Kayla would have told them everything. Kayla would never know that, though. For when she stepped into the Hub, she was greeted by the sight of Jack sitting in a chair with an empty one across from him. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, and Kayla knew what was about to occur. It felt like just yesterday that she had been sat down in a very similar situation.

She automatically sat down in the chair and asked Jack what was going on. Part of her knew that this had to happen, and part of her knew that she  _needed_ this. That still, however, didn't mean that it didn't hurt when Jack looked Kayla in the eyes and said, "You need to go back to the Doctor."

"Why?"

Denial is a very common reaction in interventions, but this question was not born from denial. Jack knew that Kayla had been drinking and using drugs, and Kayla knew that Jack was well aware of her activities. Yet Kayla still asked the question as if she didn't know why an intervention was needed.

Jack still answered the question; perhaps it was because he thought Kayla was trying to be coy, or he might of thought that she was so damaged in this regeneration that she truly  _didn't_ know. Jack was smart, however, and he knew Kayla because she was his daughter. Kayla needed to hear him say that he knew. And he gave that to her willingly.

"You've been drinking and using drugs since you started working here, Kayla."

"When did you know?"

"Ianto noticed some things, but I wasn't really suspecting anything until you said you wanted to go with Martha. Then she called and that confirmed it."

"She told you about –"

"Of course, she did. As soon as you were asleep, she called me and the Doctor."

At the mention of her Bonded, Kayla crossed her arms, but the pose most would consider defensive was a clear a coping mechanism for her; a way to comfort herself when she felt that she couldn't afford to show that she needed comfort.

"You know I've stopped?"

"Everything?"

Kayla opened her mouth to snap that she had, but then she stopped and instead sighed out, "You know about the roof."

"He met a girl on a roof and she mentioned you; said that there were groups that spoke about  _you_ going onto roofs and shouting at the sky." Jack sighed heavily and he leaned forwards in his chair, "That's when I realized that Torchwood isn't right for you."

"I thought…I thought that I needed a way to let my anger out."

"You did, but that's not what you're doing now."

Kayla felt the prickling sensations of tears building up. She blinked and looked down, hiding her face as the tears slid down her cheeks.

"I'm scared for you Kayla; if you stay here, then this is going to be a cycle that won't end."

"I'm a Time Lady, Jack. I can do this if I want to," Kayla tried, but the defense fell flat against her own ears.

"That's not what a Time Lady does to herself."

Kayla looked up, her shame about her tears forgotten at the sound of that oh-so familiar voice. There, clad in dark blue, was her Bonded. The Doctor's face was somber as he moved from the entrance of Jack's office to in front of Kayla. He knelt down in front of her and took both her hands to close his own around them.

Kayla tried to summon up some sort of anger at Jack for calling the Doctor, for staging an intervention, for all the blasted things he had done, but she just  _couldn't._ She was so, so tired of everything. The only thing that seemed right was to cry, so she did. She sobbed as the Doctor held her hands and Jack moved next to her and rubbed her back. For several minutes, the only sound in the Hub was Kayla's painful, ranking sobs as everything from the time she had left the  _Valiant_ was finally, achingly released.

When she had calmed enough to be able to speak, though there was still fresh tears, Kayla said the thought that had plagued her since she had first regenerated, "This isn't me. This regeneration is poison."

"Kayla, this regeneration was born in trauma," the Doctor said gently, "but that doesn't mean it isn't  _you."_

Slowly, he stood up, but he didn't let go of her hands. The movement tugged at them gently, and Kayla knew that it was a nonverbal way to invite her back into the TARDIS and with him. She knew that meant ending everything, and while she had stopped the drinking and the drugs, she knew it would be more than just ending that. Going with the Doctor meant she could no longer escape the pounding problems in her head. While he would always be there to offer a support, she knew that the Doctor would not let her avoid any sort of processing. She could no longer run to something and use that instead. She could no longer escape if she went with the Doctor, but Kayla was so tired of escaping.

With that gentle tugging sensation, Kayla got to her feet and stood in front of the Doctor. They were standing close together and a voice in Kayla's head shouted to kiss her Bonded, but Kayla knew that was what her old regeneration would have done. She tried being like that when she had last been with the Doctor; kissing and fucking him as if a physical connection would fix everything mentally.

This time, she was determined to do better than just live through the actions of the past. So, Kayla didn't kiss him, she just stood there and looked into his warm brown eyes. The connection she felt with that one, simple choice was stronger than a connection she felt when she kissed the Doctor or was in bed with him. This feeling was enough for her, and the doubt she had felt gnawing at her insides, the thoughts of saying a thank you or a vow to never repeat this error faded away.

That feeling coursed through her as she said her goodbyes to Jack and told him to make sure to tell the Torchwood Team that she would miss them and hoped to contact them, but that she was with her husband.

The feeling was steadfast as she walked into the TARDIS wearing the same long sleeve red shirt, blank pants, and black boots she had left in. She sat down in the chair and hesitantly smiled in return to the smile the Doctor gave her. For the first time in a long time, she didn't allow her mind to wander as someone else talked. She listened as the Doctor explained that Donna was visiting her grandfather and that they would go get her once Kayla was feeling up to it. When the Doctor was done talking, Kayla nodded, not because she felt like she should, but because she  _knew_ that she should.

The familiar hum of the TARDIS as it dematerialized from the Hub of Torchwood Three for the time vortex was one that she had missed. The hum signaled the thought she had been scared would never return.

She was home.

* * *

**Once again, the Doctor and Kayla are in the TARDIS and traveling together! As much as I love my characters growing and becoming stronger through something bad, I also love having good things happen to them. After everything Kayla has been through, she deserves to have some happiness in her life.**

**This is probably my favorite chapter I have written for this series. I know it's short, but I think I did the emotions and the thoughts of Kayla justice in a way that I often fail to do. I think I successfully showed that her fear and frustration are the way that she attempts to cover up her sadness. I also think I brought up an interesting parallel between the Doctor and Kayla. They both run because of emotional issues, but while the Doctor will run past the issue and just ignore it, Kayla will run away from the issue and try to suppress it. This is a parallel I will do more with later on, but I think that this is the first time I have successfully brought it up.**


	27. Stolen Earth Pt. 1

It had been a month since Kayla had returned to the TARDIS, but it had been only a week since Donna, who had been on Earth for only a few days, had returned to the TARDIS as well. The Time Lady didn't know what the Doctor and his companion had talked about; all she knew was that when Donna stepped into the TARDIS console room, she smiled widely at Kayla and enthused about having another female – never mind she might be an alien – on the ship. Giving a side-eye to the Doctor, she had leaned forwards and whispered, at a volume Kayla was  _sure_ the Doctor could hear Time Lord or not, that the Doctor was a complete and utter dumbo without them around.

All the anxiety Kayla had felt about Donna returning melted away as she laughed along with the ginger; her humor only increased when the Doctor made a face and exclaimed that he was  _not_ a dumbo.

Since then, they hadn't done much. They had visited a planet the day after Donna had arrived, but nothing had occurred there. No hostile aliens attacked them, no cure to any disease needed to be discovered; absolutely nothing. They had left after an hour. After that, though, the Doctor had seemed content to remain in the time vortex, a feeling that Kayla thoroughly shared. She and the Doctor were still trying to figure each other out; the lack of constant adventure and danger left quiet moments instead.

She knew how her old regeneration would have reacted to these quiet moments.  _That_ her would have called them voids and would have tried to run from them. This her, however,  _lived_ for the quiet moments. It made her feel warm and fuzzy when the Doctor stopped by the library and played with her hair, or when he sat down next to her and just took her hand and squeezed it.

At first, she had felt guilty of this need. She had seen it as selfish to stop the Doctor from his need of adventure, but on one of the first days Kayla had returned to the Doctor, when the guilt had first popped into her mind, he had looked her in the eyes and said firmly, "Your needs are  _not_ selfish."

Of course, that hadn't quieted the doubts in her mind. Through their mental link, the Doctor sensed this, so he took her hand and squeezed it tight, and stayed with her. They had spent several days like that; content in the serenity of nothing, and slowly, Kayla's guilt embedded to the dark corners of her mind. It was the place where all her dark thoughts were, and while they lingered, they couldn't harm her.

Adding Donna to the quietness of the TARDIS had scared Kayla. What if Donna hated her? What if Donna left because of her? What if everything went wrong and Donna died or was injured because of her?

The Doctor had looked at her every time those thoughts flew through her mind, but he had not voiced a response to them the way that he had to her guilt. It was only until one night when neither needed to sleep yet they were both in bed, that the Doctor voiced his opinion on her concerns.

"I have them every day. Every time I invite someone in, I grapple with them."

He rolled over from his position on his back to face Kayla, who rolled over to face him in return.

"I can't reassure you about those thoughts because I can't reassure myself."

Slowly, deliberately, Kayla ran a hand down his arm to take his hand and squeezed it.

"Maybe we don't have to reassure each other about them. Maybe we can just…support each other."

That line had become something of a mantra between them. He echoed it to her when she came upon the nursery the TARDIS had built for their child, kept perfectly intact as a memorial to something time itself had forgotten. She had echoed it to him when she found him that same night crying in the nursery. Before stepping out of the TARDIS to pick up Donna, he had echoed it to her once more.

Kayla couldn't help but wonder when it would be her turn to repeat the echo. It would be in a situation that was far sooner and far worse than anyone could have imagined.

The situation started at an unlikely scenario: an alien market. After a week of being on the TARDIS with no adventure, Donna had hesitantly asked if they were going to go somewhere. The question had been without any gusto or joking about the time the Doctor and Kayla had spent together; just simple and direct. While Donna could be described as many things, being unaware of a situation's emotions was not one of them. The Doctor had looked over at Kayla for the answer. The couple had just sat down for breakfast when Donna had come in and asked.

' _Are you up for it?'_

"Why don't we go after breakfast?"

Kayla's answer had made Donna beam and the Doctor smile. Even the TARDIS, which had been humming sleepily, seemed to hum louder at the prospect of an adventure. Upon seeing their reactions, Kayla couldn't help the small smile that grew on her face as well.

* * *

For something that would later be cited as horrible, the adventure had started off amazing. The TARDIS trio had stepped into the market place and had taken in the exotic food, creatures, and items. It had some sort of twist Donna had promptly described as Asian, only to be corrected by the Doctor with the true explanation. The market was based around an alien species that had centered itself around the energy embedded in the universe. This energy was the reason for all life and all actions; low energy led to evil and high energy led to great good.

" _They_ claim that they met humans first, back when they had first been formed by the energy, so all Asian culture is based around  _them._ The humans, well," the Doctor gave Donna a sly grin, "you know how prideful they can be."

"Oi! Prideful? What about you Mr. Time  _Lord."_

The Doctor had started to protest in return, just as indignant as the slight as Donna was. Kayla couldn't help but laugh as the two went back in forth, only to be stopped when Donna went "Ooh" and pointed out a stall selling glowing blue, foamy drinks. The Doctor bought three of them and they all took swigs when the Doctor had counted to three. Like children, the laughed at the mustaches the foam had created. By the time they resumed walking, the drinks still in hand, their playful arguments about pride was forgotten.

The alley the market was set up in was narrow and crowded. The trio had stopped at a stall selling fruit with large spikes. The seller called it Shukina, and he and the Doctor had gotten into an enthusiastic discussion about it that Kayla eventually joined as well. She had turned to ask Donna a question, so sure that in the minute or so spent talking that Donna was still at the stall. She had been wrong.

It took a moment for Kayla to realize what do first. The once happy market place now seemed sinister and stuffy. She felt like she was suffocating even as she tapped on the Doctor's shoulder and informed him that his companion was missing.

He glanced around the alleyway and then gave Kayla a reassuring smile, "She's been traveling with me for a bit. I'm sure she's fine."

But the reassurance he offered didn't reach his eyes. She took his hand and squeezed it, trying to summon their echo, but the Doctor beat her to speaking, "We should go and get her."

At that moment, his plan felt far more real than the statement Kayla had been about to say. She nodded rapidly and they quickly went down the narrow path that Donna must have gone down, but after several stalls that lacked the familiar ginger hair or loud voice, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the area, rapidly explaining that Donna's phone had a tracking chip in it.

"Funny," he hummed as he read the report from the scan.

"What?"

"It's like…well, it's like her phone's  _here,_ but it's  _not."_

"Do you think she's alright?"

"Yeah…yeah," his voice faded as he spun in a circle with the sonic once more, muttering about cheap tracking devices and how he should have put his own in.

At this point, Kayla mentally calculated, Donna must have been gone for ten minutes or so. That number alone was not nerve-wracking, and Kayla knew that she would never feel this way about any of the Torchwood members wandering off for a few minutes. She hardly knew Donna, so why was she so special?

"Aha!"

Kayla knew that exclamation from the Doctor meant he had cracked whatever problem he had been working on, and this one was no exception. He pointed to a barely visible stall ahead of them and the two quickly jogged to it.

The stall wasn't a stall, Kayla realized upon getting closer. It was a fortune teller's tent, colored in a dark, mystical red. The curtains were drawn, and there was no one outside of it, but that didn't stop the two from walking in.

Donna was in there, just as the Doctor had figured, and while she didn't look physically harmed, there was a certain heaviness in her eyes that had not been there before. She took one look at them and threw herself into a giant hug between the two of them, leaving the Time Lords no choice but to pat her back a few times before they could extract themselves.

"What was that for?" The Doctor laughed.

"I don't know!"

Donna made to pull them into a hug, but Kayla stepped to the side as she took in the rest of the tent, "Doctor," she said carefully.

All mirth died from the Doctor as he took in the fortune teller trembling in the corner of the tent and a giant beetle on its back, dead. He turned to his companion, "Donna? What happened?"

* * *

By the time Donna had finished her story, the fortune teller had regained enough sense to run out of the tent. The ginger had taken a heavy seat on a box and had wrapped her arms around herself while the Doctor and Kayla had listened.

"I can't remember," she finished with a shake of her head, "It's slipping away. You know like when you try and think of a dream and it just sort of... goes."

"Don't force yourself to remember," Kayla recommended, "If the brain wants you to forget something, then there's a reason."

Nodding along with Kayla, the Doctor added after he poked the beetle with a stick, "It just got lucky, this thing. It's one of the Trickster's Brigade. Changes a life in tiny little ways. Most times, the universe just compensates around it, but with you..." he gave his companion a lopsided smile, "Great big parallel world!"

Donna started to smile at the clear pride in the Doctor's voice, but then her face scrunched up, "Hold on, you said parallel worlds are sealed off."

"They are, but you're was created around you so it didn't count," Kayla explained.

"Funny thing is, it seems to be happening a lot. To you."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, the Library and then this…"

Donna tried to shrug, but it was a vain attempt from her to act as if she didn't care, "Just…goes with the job. I suppose."

"Sometimes," the Doctor said slowly, "I think there's way too much coincidence around you, Donna. I met you once. I met your grandfather. Then I met you again. In the whole wide universe, I met you for a second time," his tone a somber tone as he suggested, "It's like something's binding us together."

Donna scoffed and shook her head, "Don't be so daft. I'm nothing special."

"Yes, you are. You're brilliant."

The reassurance, something the Doctor had mentioned that he had used on Donna before, started to make Donna smile before she paused and said distantly, "She said that."

"Who?"

"That woman," Donna answered. Her brow furrowed as she tried to think of  _who_ that woman was, but then huffed and shook her head, "I can't remember."

Even as the Doctor was quick to dismiss that the woman had never been real, Kayla felt like something was off. Like she was missing something standing directly in front of her. The feeling only grew when Donna shook her head at the Doctor's words, "No, but she said...the stars...she said the stars are going out."

"What else did she say?"

At the seriousness in his Bonded's tone, the Doctor stopped looking at the bug to watch Donna carefully, "She said it was all words.  _Every_ world. She said the darkness is coming, even here."

Despite the halting, slow nature of the words, Kayla couldn't help the chill that ran up her spine. It only grew when Donna haltingly drew on the detail that this mysterious woman was blonde. Kayla could feel a pit in her stomach that was growing and growing as Donna struggled to remember the two words the woman had told her to say to the Doctor as a warning.

"Bad Wolf."

The Doctor was on his feet and headed out of the tent in an instance, with Kayla and a confused Donna running after him. Through their mental link, Kayla could feel the Doctor's anxiety lashing out at the world around them, scrambling the letters of all the signs into the same two words Donna had repeated.

Even the TARDIS was tainted with it. There was no escaping it, for upon opening the TARDIS the trio was greeted by red, hellish light and the cloisters ringing.

"Doctor, what is it? What's Bad Wolf?"

"It's the end of the Universe."

* * *

Of course, the end of the Universe meant returning to Earth. Donna had practically demanded it as soon as she remembered her family was down there, and Kayla was one to agree if it meant that she could grab Torchwood Three.

As the Doctor hurriedly piloted them, Kayla rushed through an explanation of Rose Tyler and why she wasn't good news. The girl had been selfish and cruel, so she had been left behind on Earth. They had met up again though, at Torchwood One, and while Rose had shown some growth then, she had still not been invited onto the TARDIS crew and had been left in a parallel universe with her parents and her boyfriend, Mickey Smith. If there had been more time, Kayla would have added information about sweet Mickey, but the landing of the TARDIS had prompted the trio to race out into whatever horrors that was the end of the Universe on Earth.

Horrors that were…a sunny Saturday afternoon.

"I like Saturdays," the Doctor commented after being told the day by a confused man who promptly left the trio to their own devices.

"So…I just met Rose Tyler?"

"Yes," Kayla confirmed.

"But she's locked away in a parallel universe."

"Exactly," with sudden interest, the Doctor took in Donna intensely, "If she can cross from her parallel world to your parallel world, then that means the walls of the universe are breaking down, which puts everything in danger. Everything. But how?"

Distracted once more, the Doctor walked back into the TARDIS, leaving Donna and Kayla. Carefully, Kayla placed a hand on Donna's shoulder and gave her a small smile, "I know this is confusing, but I promise your family is going to be fine."

Nodding, Donna gave her a small smile in return and the two women stepped into the TARDIS and closed the doors, shutting off the outside world.

The Doctor was so engrossed with pulling various levers and buttons that he hadn't noticed the two not in the TARDIS, so naturally he didn't notice them come in either. He did pause momentarily when Kayla came up next to him, and he paused once more when Kayla ran a finger through his hair, messing it up even more than his own fingers had.

For a moment, there was a bit of peace in the trio's lives as they all took a few deep breathes and relaxed.

And then they were thrown to the ground with a loud crash that echoed through the TARDIS, nearly covering the loud, buzzing hum the ship had sounded.

"What the hell was that?" Donna cried out as soon as she had recovered enough to stand.

"It came from outside!"

They all ran to the door with the Doctor in the lead. He threw open the doors and jerked himself to a halt. When they had last exited the TARDIS, they had been greeted by a promising Saturday. Now, they were greeted with space.

"We're in space…how did that happen?" The shock in Donna's voice was quickly replaced with fear, "What did you do?"

Leaving the doors opened, the Doctor rushed back to the console and grabbed the monitor; behind him, Kayla peered over his shoulder to read the results as well.

"That's not good," Kayla breathed out. The dumbfounded expression was all she could muster even as her Bonded was running back to the doors and staring out at space.

The TARDIS may have been old, but it had never lied about where they were. It said they hadn't moved, so that meant…"The TARDIS is still in the same place, but the Earth is gone. The entire planet... it's gone!"

Donna had been the one to close the doors. She had moved to and back from them in a dazed, robotic way. She turned to the Doctor and Kayla and had said so slowly, "But…if the Earth's been moved…they've lost the sun."

Kayla tried to come up with something to comfort her, but it seemed that Donna didn't need her comfort  _just_ yet, because her daze turned to urgency, "What about my Mum? And Grandad? They're dead? Aren't they? Are they dead?"

The Doctor, who had been engrossed in the monitor and the readings on it, turned away from it with a look in his eyes that Kayla recognized well; he felt helpless. Like any person, the Doctor lashed out from this feeling, "I don't know, Donna. I just don't know. I'm sorry. I don't know."

Donna stared at the Doctor with her mouth open for several moments. It slowly closed as she shook her head numbly, "That's my family. My whole world."

"There's no readings, nothing. Not a trace. Not even a whisper," the Doctor said with a shake of his head, "Oh that is…"

"Next to impossible," Kayla finished for him, "Certainly not any race I can think of that would have this capability in this time period."

"So, what do we do?"

For a moment, neither Time Lord reacted to Donna's trembling question. The Doctor was the first to pull himself out, and that gave Kayla the ability to pull herself out as well. She nearly missed the Doctor's answer of, "We've got to get help."

"From where?"

Kayla knew what the Doctor was going to say next; mental link aside, it was the only place anyone could go if they wanted to have anyone hope of solving this mystery.

"Donna, Kayla…I'm taking you both to the Shadow Proclamation. Hold tight."

With a certain tension that was usually never around when the Doctor piloted his TARDIS, Kayla watched as the Doctor pulled the lever that would start them on the track to the Shadow Proclamation. It was a gamble, but all they could do was hope that it paid off. As soon as the Doctor started piloted, however, the TARDIS started to shake violently. Without needing to be told, Donna clutched onto the console with a death grip while Kayla attempted to help the Doctor. The level of bumpiness was stronger than usual, but it didn't concern the Doctor or Kayla  _too_ much. If they reached the point where they couldn't pilot, then they would be concerned.

"So, go on then – what is the Shadow Proclamation, anyway?"

"Outer space police," Kayla answered, "They don't like me much."

"How come?"

"I wasn't the nicest person for a while."

Her response was finished not by her intention, but by a lurch from the TARDIS that sent its occupants to the floor. The Doctor was back on his feet and at the console in an instant while Kayla and Donna picked themselves up slower, neither trusting the TARDIS not to make another motion that sent them down again.

Thankfully, they were not on the floor for long; within a few minutes, they had materialized and were cautiously exiting the TARDIS. The headquarters for the Shadow Proclamation was lit dimly, but the mournful atmosphere this gave off was ruined by the immediate sight of a group of Judoon. Upon seeing them, the rhino-like aliens pointed their guns at the trio, giving them no choice but to put their hands up in obvious surrender.

"Sco po tro no flow jo ko fo to to," the center of the group barked out.

"No bo ho so ko ro toe so," when there was no shift in the Judoon's stance, the Doctor quickly added, "Bo-ko-do-zo-go-bo-fo-po-jo!"

The Judoon eyed each other for a moment and then slowly put their guns down, causing the Doctor to give a "Ma ho," in response.

But despite the lack of guns pointed at them, Kayla still got the sense they were being heavily watched, especially when the Shadow Architect, an albino woman with white hair curled and pulled up, entered the room. "Time Lords are the stuff of legend. They belong in the myths and whispers of the Higher Species," she said slowly with skepticism weighing down each word, "You two cannot possibly exist."

The Doctor scratched at the back of his neck, "Yeah…," his voice trailing off, he eyed the Shadow Architect carefully, "more to the point. I've got a missing planet."

Haughtily, the Shadow Architect raised her head, "Then you're not as wise as the stories would say," the dismissive insult lingered in the air as the woman paused before she continued, "The picture is far bigger. The whole universe is in outrage, Doctor and Kayla – twenty-four worlds have been taken from the sky."

While she made a face at the rapid demands the Doctor spewed at her, the Shadow Architect still pulled up the list of the twenty-four planets for the Doctor to look at, nor did she complain when Kayla moved to the side of the Doctor to look at it with him while Donna lingered in the back.

"Callufrax Minor, Jahoo, Shallacatop, Woman Wept, Clom - Clom's gone?! Who'd want Clom?"

"All different sizes. Some populated, some not, but all unconnected," The Shadow Architect noted, ignoring the Doctor's outburst at the idea of someone wanting  _Clom._

"What about Pyrovillia?"

Donna's reasonable question earned a condescending look from the Shadow Architect, as if she was some sort of bug that had learned to speak, "Who is the female?"

Kayla was about to retort, but Donna beat her to it, "Donna. I'm a Human Being. Maybe not the stuff of legend, but every bit as important as Time Lords, thank you," when no response came, Donna continued with the line of thinking that had brought her to her original question, "Way back when we were in Pompeii, Lucius said Pyrovillia had gone missing."

Surprisingly, it was a Judoon that spoke up, "Pyrovillia is cold case. Not relevant."

When Donna questioned that, the Shadow Architect explained with a very deliberately calm voice that Pyrovillia had been gone for over two-thousand years, so it  _couldn't_ be a part of their current issue. But Donna, persistent as ever, pointed out that there was  _another_ planet she and the Doctor had come upon that was missing. At the mention of the Adipose breeding planet's disappearance, the Doctor, and Kayla through their mental link, felt as if they crashed into a wall of genius head on.

"That's it! Donna, brilliant!" The praise made Donna beam with pride, "The planets have been taken out of time as well as space."

Focusing back in on the computer the Doctor looked for a button that Kayla quickly found and tapped, putting the twenty-four planets into a 3-D hologram in front of them, "Now, if we add Pyrovillia and Adipose 3," the Doctor narrated as he added the image of those planets.

"We need one more," Kayla commented as she moved away from the computer to eye the diagram, "Twenty-seven should balance them out."

She could hear the Doctor muttering to himself, repeating the word 'lost' as the planets name flashed through his mind. She had never received the same extensive education as the Doctor, and when it came to planets her knowledge was especially lacking. It was why she could offer nothing but support through their link, and why the Doctor's shout about the Lost Moon of Posh came as a surprise to her as well.

With the long-lost moon added, the planets slowly rearranged themselves in the model, moving eerily through the space until they were balanced out completely in an image that was both stunning and terrifying. It would take years for the math required to balance them all properly, the way the diagram showed, to be around on Earth. Most other societies that could figure it out were long gone or not around yet.

So what could have done this?

Despite his sharing this concern with Kayla, the Doctor still walked through the image of planets in perfect harmony with a smile on his face, "Come on," he called out as he turned back to the group, "this is gorgeous!"

"Oi!" The shout from Donna was enough to snap the Doctor out of his enjoyment, but that didn't mean the ginger would just stop there, "Don't get all spaceman. What does it mean?"

Moving back so that he was standing next to Kayla and Donna, the Doctor quickly explained how the planets fitting together made them an engine. It was a complete power house for the taking, but why would someone do that?

Listening with a severe frown, the Shadow Architect added a question of her own, "Who could design such a thing?"

The two pressing questions triggered something in the Doctor's mind. Kayla could feel a sudden terror growing in the Doctor. She took his hand as he spoke slowly, his mind not in the Shadow Proclamation's headquarters, but in his TARDIS when he first started out traveling.

"Someone tried to move the Earth once before. A long time ago…" For a moment, all of the Doctor's mind was transfixed on the flashes of his granddaughter's strong love for a human, of dumbed down men forced to serve their masters, and their masters, Daleks, going down a bridge in London. That final image lingered heavily in his mind, making the Doctor breath out, "Can't be," as if that protest would somehow change what he knew was true.

Somehow, someway, the Daleks had come back.

What this is horrible realization worse was that there was nothing they could do. Kayla, the Doctor, and the Shadow Architect were stumped. They were still trying, still by the computer, but there was little they could do. They could stop whatever plot was at play if they could  _get_ to the planets, but that was impossible. Despite the entire galaxy on alert, no one could find the planets. There was going to be chaos soon; meetings would take place and blame would be hurtled at everyone who had not lost a planet. If they were lucky, then the different species would come together to try and find them. If they weren't…the idea of a galactical war sent shivers down Kayla's spine and made the Doctor squeeze her hand tight and say soothingly,  _'That won't happen. No one with any sense will let it get that far.'_

Giving her Bonded a grateful smile, Kayla moved closer to him and he, without needing to be asked, put his arm around her waist. The closeness made her feel stronger as the concerns faded off. The Doctor smiled back at her, and then called for Donna to try and think about anything strange occurring on Earth. He had already asked the same question to Kayla, but the Time Lady's stay on Earth with Torchwood had not given her any world-moving information. Having sat down, Donna rejoined them at the computers. She had clearly been crying, and the moodily way she snapped, "Well, how should I know," contributed to an overall depressing outlook. Sighing, she shook her head, "I don't think so, no," she added in a softer tone.

Sighing as well, the Doctor thanked her for the trouble. He was already working on the computer when Donna hesitantly added, "Although...there were the bees disappearing."

"The bees are disappearing," the Doctor repeated, "The BEES are disappearing," he said once more, this time with a forceful, sarcastic tone. Donna winced but didn't retort, making Kayla frown at the Doctor. He didn't notice though, because he was running over the sentence in his mind. Quite suddenly he cried out the phrase once more and then was working at the computer in a frenzy. The feeling was contagious, and Kayla quickly started to help. Donna picked up on it as well, and she dashed over to peer at the computer. Only the Shadow Architect didn't pick up on the feeling, instead asking why the bees were significant.

"On Earth, we have these insects. Some people said it was pollution or mobile phone signals," Donna explained.

"Or they were going back home," Kayla put in.

Donna stared at her with her mouth open in shock, "Back home where?"

"The planet Melissa Majoria," the Doctor answered.

"Are you two saying bees are alien?"

"Not all of them. Some have migrated over. They leave this trail of wavelengths when they move. So if they felt some sort of danger…"

At top speed, the Doctor elaborated on what Kayla had said, "The Tandocca Scale is a series of wavelengths used as carrier signals by migrant bees. Infinitely small, no wonder we didn't see it. It's like looking for a speck of cinnamon in the Sahara. But look!" He stepped back so that everyone could clearly see the blue dotted line, "There it is! The Tandocca trail. The transmat that moved that planets was using the same wavelength! We can follow the path!"

Already, Donna was heading for the TARDIS, and the couple quickly joined her. They ran in and Kayla quickly started working on the navigation while the Doctor poked his head out to explain that they were going to follow the small blip that was the trail. Kayla couldn't help but roll her eyes when the Shadow Architect demanded the TARDIS, informing them that there was going to be a war that Kayla and the Doctor would lead. Apparently, the woman was daft enough to think that there was  _anyway_ the Doctor would let that happen. His muttered excuse of finding a key was horribly weak, so it should have come as no surprise to the Shadow Architect that when the Doctor shut the door, he threw off his coat and pulled a lever, sending them off.

At first things were amazing. The Doctor was grinning widely, Donna was beaming, and Kayla was smiling. The TARDIS flew through the trail, and while that was a somewhat unpleasant motion, the knowledge that they were going to find the Earth and save everyone was far stronger than any negative feelings towards travel.

Truly, they were in high, high spirits. Naturally, that meant they fell hard when the TARDIS just  _stopped._

"Is that good or bad?" Donna wondered, "Where are we?"

Closest to the monitor, Kayla looked at it carefully "The Medusa Cascade." She scanned it once more, hoping that there was one of the planets, but there was nothing out there except space.

The mood in the TARDIS plummeted. Neither the Doctor or Kayla could bring themselves to bring the news of their failure to Donna. They all collapsed in the seats around the console room, and the Doctor, in a vain attempt to soften the blow to Donna, mentioned the previous time he had been at the Medusa Cascade, "I came here when I was just a kid. Ninety years old. It was the center of a rift in time and space."

The story didn't earn a smile from Donna, nor did it distract her. Slowly, she asked about the twenty-seven planets.

"Nowhere," the Doctor answered in a soft voice, "The Tandocca Trail stops dead." He let his head fall back against the back of his seat while one of his hands lazily messed with Kayla's hair. "End of the line," he finished.

Donna stared at him, "So, what do we do? Doctor? Kayla? What do we do?"

Neither answered, the Doctor too busy staring at the screen while Kayla stared down at her hands. Their feeling of defeat was palpable, and Donna quickly realized that they had given up. It killed them to hear her plead, begging them not to do this to her, not to give up  _now,_ and to just give her something they could do. But neither of them answered, because there was nothing they could do or say that would make this right.

"You never give up! Please!"

But there was nothing they could do, so Donna started to cry.

* * *

**I cannot believe we have started the final! Along with series 3 and series 10, series 4 has my favorite ending to the series. Donna is amazing, the Doctor is amazing, and everyone coming back and teaming up is amazing. I wish Steven Moffat would have built on the universe RTD had created during his run, because it would have been so great to see Jack or Martha again. I have some ideas for them, though, so while I cannot promise _when,_ I can promise that these former characters will be back with the eleventh Doctor and Kayla.**

**As for this chapter, I'm pretty proud of it. I debated about actually doing "Turn Left," but I didn't see how it would grow Kayla as a character plus nothing would really change in the episode since she would die along with the Doctor thanks to their Bond. It just didn't make much sense to do the entire episode so I just had the beginning and end part to lead into Stolen Earth.**


	28. Stolen Earth Pt. 2

The Doctor had given up, Kayla had given up, and Donna had given up. The Earth and twenty-six other planets had been stolen by the Daleks. The trio had thought they had figured out how to get to the planets and save them from whatever horrible fate the Daleks had planned, but the trail they had been following ended at the empty Medusa Cascade.

Since their realization of their failure, the trio had all reacted differently. Donna had cried and begged the Time Lords to do  _something_ to save her planet and her family, but she eventually quieted; she made no noise save for the occasional sniffle. Kayla had collapsed into a chair next to the Doctor and had stared down at her hands, lost in her own thoughts about the people on Earth that she knew. Torchwood Three had been her home for a long time, and she loved her former co-workers there, and Martha Jones, the former companion, was someone she loved on Earth as well.

Most alarming of the reactions, however, was the Doctor. In either grief or guilt, he had become mute and still. He didn't speak, cry, or even look around at anything except for the TARDIS monitor. The only thing that moved was his hand, which was running repeatedly through Kayla's hair. At first, the motion had been soothing, but now Kayla felt as if it too had become tainted by their circumstances, yet she didn't move her head away. It wasn't because she liked it somewhere deep down, or because she felt that it might make the Doctor happy. Kayla didn't need a mental link to tell her that the Doctor's mind was millions of miles away and his action of playing with her hair had become an automatic action. The Doctor was supposed to move; it was just how he was. Kayla could never remember a time he wasn't doing  _something._ His reaction to their failure made Kayla terrified, for what was the Doctor without that movement? His hand running repeatedly through her hair gave her the smallest bit of hope that in that unmoving husk her Bonded had become,  _he_ was still in there.

Kayla was a logical person. She knew her hope was one that would likely never pan out. It was far more likely that they would never leave the Medusa Cascade. Neither Donna nor the Doctor would leave if there was the remote chance that if they did, they would miss an opportunity to reach the Earth, and Kayla knew she would never have the strength to tell either of them that they had to leave. Within the mere hour that had passed, Kayla had resigned herself to this future. She was certain that nothing more that could be done, so when the beeping noise first became audible, Kayla dismissed it. She was sure it was just her hearts beating, though why she would hear them, she didn't know. When the noise continued, however, she slowly lifted her head to look around the TARDIS. Nothing in it had changed; the monitor still had the same readings on it so that struck that off her list. When she glanced at Donna, it was clear that the ginger was not making the noise.

The beeping noise continued to grow. Like a song, it seemed to build, a crescendo that was cultivating to the climax. Her hearts started to speed up in anticipation as Kayla just  _knew_ that they were getting closer and closer, until the climax hit, and the beeping stopped growing, though it was still present as another noise, one Kayla had not expected, joined in. Martha's phone was ringing.

"PHONE!"

The Doctor's yell was still hanging in the air long after he had scrambled from the seat and picked up the object, "Martha, is that you?!" He frowned and pulled the phone from his ear, allowing the two other occupants of the TARDIS to hear the same beeping noise, "It's a signal…"

"Can we follow it?"

The Doctor smiled wide, and Kayla felt her hearts skip a beat as she saw an expression she had thought she would never see again. It was that look of determination and glee that she would always love. In that moment, even with the suddenly procured stethoscope on, the Doctor had never looked more beautiful. Within only a few minutes, a feat that no one could do  _but_ the Doctor, the beaming Time Lord shouted, "Got it! Locking on!"

He pulled a lever on the console that sent the TARDIS shaking and sparks flying. Despite ending up on the floor, all occupants of the ship had wide grins plastered on their face. The trio pulled their selves up and clutched onto the console, using it as their anchor.

The beeping had grown to a point the Doctor had to yell to be heard by Kayla, who was standing right next to him, "We're travelling through time! One second in the future! The phone call's pulling us through!"

Though there was a fire on the TARDIS and the shaking was nearly unbearable, their giddiness led to them shouting as if they were on a roller coaster at the Doctor's countdown, timed to the exact moment when they were pulled fully into a different part of time and space.

* * *

Only when the TARDIS was still and the fire had calmed did the Doctor grab the monitor and Donna moved from her spot to look at it. Kayla was sure the three of them looked absolutely mad, but she found that she didn't care that much, especially when she saw the proof that they had been successful. The sight of Earth had never been something that had made her so happy.

"But why couldn't we see the planets?" Donna asked after exclaiming at their appearance.

"The entire Medusa Cascade has been put a second out of sync with the rest of the universe. Perfect hiding place, tiny little pocket of time. But we found them!"

" _You_ found them, Doctor," Kayla corrected, the pride she felt thickening her voice.

Not one to pretend otherwise, the Doctor just gave her a wide smile, though that faltered when the TARDIS' screen emitted a whirring noise and their beloved image was blurred out.

"Oh, oh...what's that? Hold on, hold on..." he turned one of the many knobs on the monitor, his face scrunching with confusion, "Some sort of... subwave network."

Slowly, the image cleared. Instead of the twenty-seven planets, there were three grids with familiar, beautiful faces. Jack, Gwen, Ianto, Tosh, and Owen were crammed into one of the boxes, and their expressions at the sight of Kayla told her that Jack and Ianto must have done as she asked and explained that she was with her husband, though she doubted they had realized just who her husband was until  _now_.

Next to them was Martha Jones. While her face was lined a bit more than when Kayla had seen her last, the wide grin erased any worries Kayla had had about her well-being. There was a knowing look in her eyes as well, and Kayla knew that if they had been in less troubled times, the former companion would have winked at her.

The third and final box, a fourth held their own image in it, was a face Kayla had not seen in a while but was still joyed to see. Sarah Jane Smith, tears in her eyes and a heartfelt smile, stood next to a teenage boy who was staring at the TARDIS trio as if they had walked out of a fantasy story.

Kayla couldn't help but laugh when Jack burst into laughter at the sight of them, but he, and therefore she, sobered quickly as Jack snapped,  _"Where the hell have you been?! Doctor, Kayla, it's the Daleks!"_

" _It's the Daleks!"_  Sarah Jane echoed,  _"They're taking people to their spaceship!"_

" _But it's not just Dalek Caan!"_  Martha added before Sarah Jane had finished.

The pride oozing from the Doctor was palpable as he looked at the faces of his former companions, people who were the true examples of the human race. Kayla could tell he was surpressing tears, though they'd be tears of joy, when he spoke, "Sarah Jane! Who's that boy? That's Torchwood Three," he shook his head, "Aren't they brilliant?" He asked, but the question was to no one in particular, so he went on without an answer, "Look at you all, you clever people!"

"That's Martha!" Donna pointed out. At the mention of her name, Martha waved at the screen, but Donna was already moving on to someone she found  _far_ more interesting, "And who's  _he?"_ She asked slyly with a point to Jack.

"Captain Jack Harkness," Kayla informed her quickly, "I wouldn't recommend him."

"Hey!"

"Shush."

The taunt between the father and daughter caused them to both laugh. It felt nice, like it was releasing some of the tension Kayla had been holding onto. She felt lighter when she was done; it was easier to smile at the sight of her close friends, to smile when Donna called it an outer-space Facebook. Even when the screen went white, the signal cutting out, the release from the laughter made it harder for Kayla to go straight to despair. The Doctor was turning the knobs on the monitor, hurriedly explaining that there was another signal trying to come through, "Someone else is out there," he finished. With no luck from the knobs, he bashed the top of the monitor in frustration, "Hello? Can you hear me?"

They three of them watched the monitor. For a moment, it seemed as if the signal was going to die out, but then a voice came through. Kayla hoped it would be another voice that made the Doctor smile.

It wasn't.

" _ **Your voice is different, and yet, its arrogance is unchanged."**_

Kayla had heard that voice before, in memories shared between herself and the Doctor when he had been explaining some of his adventures to her or of the Time War. Even without that, it was a voice Kayla had heard from the Doctor's own nightmares. Ones with the owner of  _that_ voice required Kayla to wake the Doctor up and stay with him, calming him as he struggled to pull himself out of the all-too real memories the dream had brought up.

On the monitor, Kayla saw Davros, creator of the Daleks, emerge from the shadows he had been lingering in. He was sitting in the base similar to a Dalek, but it was controlled by his long, inhuman hands. His top half was somewhat covered by a leather-like jacket, but it wasn't fully closed at the bottom, revealing that his skin had been removed; all that was left was a gaping hole. Perhaps most disgusting of all, though, was Davros' face. It was scaly and inhuman, like his hands. There was a blue light in the middle of his face, an addition that likened him to the creatures he had created.

He was absolutely horrifying in appearance and in his scratchy, mocking voice,  _ **"Welcome…to my new Empire, Doctor,"**_ the creature had the gale to grin as he added,  _ **"and Kayla."**_

The inclusion made the Time Lady swallow hard and reach her hand out, only to find that the Doctor was reaching his out as well. They locked their own hands together, trying to strengthen themselves as they looked at the creature of nightmares in front of them.

The Doctor had told Kayla all about Davros. The creator of the Daleks was incredibly smart, and that made him dangerous. During the first and only year of the Time War Davros had been present for, he had studied the culture of Gallifrey extensively through books and artwork pillaged from libraries and museums of the unprepared planet. He had also taken a few people and tortured them, dragging valuable information from them and then killing them when they were no longer of use. He had been the one to discover the weak points during a regeneration, a skill he placed in the Dalek hivemind so that they all knew to trigger a regeneration so that they could truly kill a Time Lord or Lady. This had crippled the Time Lords horribly, but it wasn't as bad as when he had discovered Bonded Time Lords and Ladies and weaponized  _that_ too.

Bonded couples were always put on the same combat squad based on the belief that separating them would be far more painful than keeping them together; plus, there was clear evidence that showed that a Bonded couple fought better together when they could see threats made against one of them. Davros discovered this, and after extensive research, he had found specific signs of what Bonded couples looked like that he put into the Dalek hivemind. Daleks started to target the Bonded couples; all they had to do was get one to start regenerating, and the other was incapacitated until the one regenerating was killed, instantly killing the other one as well.

There had been some many horrors Davros had added to the war. He created monstrous creatures to update the Daleks with the clear, boasting goal that he would one day be able to have one that was able to kill a Time Lord without triggering a regeneration. It was a possible way for a Time Lord to go, dying too quickly or too brutally to be able to trigger the regeneration process, but it was a death so horrible that even when Time Lords had fought against each other, they didn't dare attempt to cross that line, the way they hadn't dared to use Bonded couples against each other as well.

Davros was unlike anything the Time Lords had come across, and their woeful preparations had allowed him to create the Nightmare Child practically unchecked. It was a new type of Dalek, one that could kill a Time Lord instantly. So horrible, so  _terrible,_ it had led to countless deaths including Davros' own.

Or so the Doctor and Kayla had thought.

Now, the  _thing_ that had killed so many Time Lords was staring at the Doctor and Kayla and was gloating with the knowledge that he not only knew exactly what the Doctor and Kayla were to each other, but also how to use it against them.

Despite the mess of horrified, frightened thoughts going through her head, Kayla couldn't block out Davros' mocking voice as he continued to address them,  _ **"It is only fitting that you two should bear witness to the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, Lord and Creator of the Dalek Race."**_

Kayla could feel the Doctor's own thoughts bleeding into hers. Their shared fears made it impossible for either to find a voice to reply to Davros, or even Donna when she softly called their names.

" _ **Have you nothing to say?"**_

The Doctor slowly spoke, his voice numb as if he was reaching for a simple fact like the alphabet that he  _knew_ to be true, "You were destroyed," as Davros continued to look at them through the monitor, the Doctor's voice started to shake, "In the very first year of the Time War, at the Gates of Elysiem. I saw your command ship flying into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. I tried to save you..."

The memory that flashed through the Doctor's head, one that was tainted with utter terror, made Kayla squeeze down on the Doctor's hand tightly. The contact, however, brought little comfort.

" _ **It took one stronger than you. Dalek Caan himself."**_

On the monitor, a light was turned on behind Davros so that the familiar Dalek Caan, the Dalek that had escaped from 1930s New York, was revealed. Its upper half had been exploded off, showing the creature that lived inside the Dalek fully, but it looked sick and mutated. When it spoke, its voice was manically high-pitched and almost song-like,  _ **"I flew into the wild and fire. I danced and died a thousand times!"**_

" _ **Emergency temporal shift took him back into the Time War itself."**_

Sharply, the Doctor's fear turned to a deep, deep loathing, "But that's impossible, the entire war is time-locked," he snapped. His voice still shook, but it was from suppressing the want to scream at the foul creature in front of him than from his earlier terror.

" _ **And yet, he succeeded. Oh, it cost him his mind, but imagine - a single, simple Dalek succeeded where Emperors and Time Lords have failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?"**_

With his heightened state of anger clouding his mind, Kayla caught onto what Davros was saying before the Doctor did. She blurted out, "You made a new race of Daleks," before thinking about the consequences of drawing Davros' attention onto her.

Davros gave Kayla an expression she could only liken to a smirk, but it was so, so worse than one she had seen on any creature before that it made her shiver in revulsion,  _ **"The Time Lady speaks…"**_

"I'm right though," Kayla snapped back, the anger the Doctor was feeling spread through like a fire; it made her raise her head and glare at Davros, taking on the haughtiness that Time Ladies were always described to have.

" _ **Yes,"**_ Davros confirmed,  _ **"I gave myself to them. Quite literally. Each one grown from a cell of my own body."**_ In a sick confirmation, he pulled more of his leather-like suit aside, allowing an even closer look at his mutilated form. The cells that had been harvested had not only left him thin, but his heart and ribs exposed. Any rational creature would have been horrified by this state, but Davros was proud of it and bragged that these new, true Daleks were his  _children,_ _ **"What do you have, Doctor and Kayla?"**_

Kayla doubted Davros knew anything about the child she had lost, but that didn't stop the taunt to feel like a knife was stabbed into her gut. It was a deep pain she felt, one that left her unable to speak. The Doctor, however, he drew that pain and used it as a fuel. She could feel his brain practically humming with anger as it made an instinctive connection between the pain  _his_ Bonded was feeling and the person who had caused that pain.

"After all this time...everything we saw, everything we lost...I have only one thing to say to you," Kayla saw him reach for the lever that would end the connection with Davros, but it still came as a shock when he shouted, "Bye" and pulled the lever so that Davros was scrubbed from their screen.

Not wasting any time, he started to pilot the TARDIS at a hurtling speed towards Earth. It was only a matter of time until they'd be found by the Daleks, and every second had become crucial if they wanted to be able to stop whatever plan Davros had created.

* * *

It was only after they had arrived on Earth that they were able to slow down. Breathing hard, they stepped onto the street they had landed on. Unsurprisingly, it was empty. The lights were off in the houses scattered around them, making the street lamps their only source of light. The street lamps, however, only illuminated abandoned cars, forgotten bikes, and random rubbish. While the streets were filled with these various objects, Kayla could only describe the place they had landed on as empty. Save for some barking of a dog left in the backyard, there was no sign of life.

"It's like a ghost town," Donna commented.

"Sarah Jane said the Daleks were taking people," Kayla remembered, "But that doesn't make sense. It's not like the Daleks to take prisoners, so why did they?"

The Doctor turned to Donna and made sure she was staring at him as he spoke urgently, " _Think,_ Donna. When you met Rose in the parallel world, what did she say?"

"Just…the darkness is coming."

"Anything else?"

Donna shook her head no, but something caught her eye over the Doctor's shoulder. Kayla turned, the Doctor turning only a moment after her, to see a figure standing at the end of the street, just barely visible under the yellow light of a street lamp. Slowly, the figure started to walk towards them. The large gun, slung across their body, was clearly slowing them down with its weight, but the figure didn't throw it off.

The Doctor started to walk towards the person as well, and Kayla followed after him. As they got closer, Kayla was able to make out the face, and she started to smile as she recognized who it was. She started to jog, moving in front of the Doctor so that she could give this person a hug. When she had last seen Mickey Smith, it had been in a different body, but her feelings for him hadn't changed through the regeneration. She could tell he didn't recognize her, but she knew that his knowledge of the Doctor, who still looked the same, would eventually lead him to the knowing who she was.

Kayla would forever blame herself for not noticing the Dalek until it was too late. One minute she was jogging with the Doctor towards Mickey, and then the next thing she knew, she had been tackled to the ground and was in  _pain._ A pain so strong, so weakening, she was hardly able to breathe, let alone scream. She barely registered the echo from the Dalek, its shout of  **"** _ **Exterminate"**_ having been what made the Doctor notice the Dalek and push her out of the way.

She tried to turn her head, but her body was far too focused on the pain she was feeling to look for her Bonded. Through the haze in her brain, she knew it was the Doctor who was causing this pain, and that the pain, while nearly identical to the one she had felt only once before, had a separated quality to it the way any pain she felt from her Bonded did. This was no ordinary pain, however, because the Doctor was starting to regenerate, causing himself and Kayla to be incapacitated until the process was complete.

There was a bright flash of blue light, a shot from a gun, and the scream of a Dalek as it died. Her vision was blurry, but was Kayla was able to make out Mickey kneeling beside her, his gun off of him, "Kayla?"

She gritted her teeth into an attempt of a smile, but it quickly fell away as a sharp spike of pain made the Doctor and herself convulse.

"Oh my god," Donna's horrified and confused gasp signaled that she too had arrived.

And then a third voice, sharp with urgency, made Kayla close her eyes with the confidence of knowing that Jack would be able to deal with everything. She was right, of course. He got Donna and Mickey to get the Doctor to the TARDIS while he picked up Kayla to do the same.

* * *

In the safety of the TARDIS, the familiar hum made the pain a bit weaker for the Doctor and Kayla. It was enough for her to have the ability to take the Doctor's hand, and while she couldn't squeeze it, the contact was enough. She could feel the burning sensation, and the glow that she could see from the corner of her eye told her that the change was going to occur  _soon._

Bonded were able to stay with each other during regeneration. In their most painful, weakest moment, a Bonded couple could remain close without fear of the energy lashing out defensively the way it would for anyone else. Kayla didn't know if Jack knew this, but for whatever reason he didn't attempt to keep her away from the Doctor the way he had done so for Mickey and Donna, something that she was very grateful for.

For a sudden moment, there was no pain. It was the moment that sent the Doctor and Kayla to their feet. Their gazes locked before the Doctor threw his head back and arms out. Regeneration energy poured from him in an impressively strong display of yellow and orange light that made Kayla instinctively step back and shield her eyes with her arm. It scared her to know that when the light had faded, a new Doctor would be standing in the console room in front of her. She hoped that that new Doctor would still love her.

* * *

**Completely** **forgot to update! I am so sorry!**

**I remember watching this and being really frustrated with the Doctor for not mentioning regeneration to Donna. Hadn't he learned from Rose that that doesn't work out well? I know that it's in line with how the Doctor never wants to confront the whole idea of change, but it's still something that bothers me, especially because he was able to explain it Donna's grandfather later on.**

**As for this chapter, I'm okay with it. I liked the world-building I did with Davros, and that's something I intend to do more of with Kayla in her later books. I think my capabilities as a writer has grown to a place where I feel confident enough to add my own ideas on the history of a character, which goes for all the characters I write.**


	29. Journey's End Pt. 1

Daleks had stolen the Earth, Davros was still alive and was planning something gruesome, Mickey Smith had somehow come over from a parallel world and was in the TARDIS along with Jack and Donna, yet all Kayla cared about was her Bonded, the Doctor, regenerating in front of her. He had taken a bullet for her, literally, and now he was paying the price for it. Orange and yellow energy was pouring out of his body in an impressively bright display of something that  _should_ have been from Kayla. She had far more regenerations left than he did, so it would have made sense for the Doctor to have let her get shot than to put himself in that position. That wouldn't have been the Doctor, however, and Kayla knew he never would have forgiven himself if she had been harmed when he could have done something about it.

That knowledge didn't make the sight of the Doctor regenerating any easier for Kayla. She was fearful about what his next regeneration would think of her. She had come across rumors that a new regeneration could dislike their Bonded, and while the Doctor had always dismissed those rumors as nothing, Kayla couldn't help but think about her own feeling towards the Doctor when she had regenerated. She had stilled love the Doctor, but she had been so angry and so hurt that she just couldn't be around him. It would certainly be a twisted form of irony if the table were turned and the Doctor couldn't be around her.

Quite suddenly, something changed. Kayla didn't know if it was because of their link or because she knew what to expect, but she quickly became aware that something different was happening. She removed her arm from over her eyes and squinted to see that the Doctor was no longer in the same position he had been in before. He had angled himself towards the jar with his spare hand inside of it, and was pouring all the energy into it, making the liquid that was holding the hand bubble and glow.

Once the energy had been sent into the jar, the Doctor stumbled backwards. He was breathless and shaky, but he was still the same man as he had been when the light had blocked him from view. He looked around the TARDIS console room, taken in Mickey's, Jack's, and Donna's shocked faces before his gaze landed on Kayla, who had an equally shocked face.

"Now, then. Where were we?"

For a moment, Kayla grappled with a selfish happiness that the Doctor hadn't changed and was still the man she knew and felt safe with, and a fear driven anger that the Doctor would waste one of his very limited regenerations. Few people alive or dead, knew the actual amount of bodies the Doctor had gone through, and Kayla was one of those people that was  _alive._ She knew that the next time the Doctor regenerated would be his last, and that made her terrified.

Therefore, it was no true surprise that the fear driven anger was the emotion that Kayla settled on. As the Doctor went around the console, setting up alerts and other safety measure for when the Daleks found them, Kayla followed after him. About half-way around, their view blocked from the still unmoving, shocked humans, Kayla hit the Doctor  _hard_ on the arm.

' _You shouldn't have done that,'_ she hissed through their mental link, knowing that if she said it aloud it would be a shout,  _'You don't have that much energy left!'_

A heavy sigh came from the Doctor,  _'I know.'_

' _Then why did you do it?'_

' _I…I don't know,'_ the lie was weak and completely unbelievable, but instead of prompting a fight, it made the anger drain out of her to be replaced fully with fear and uncertainty. She slowly took the Doctor's hand and squeezed it.

' _We support each other,'_ she told him firmly,  _'No matter what.'_

' _No matter what,'_ the Doctor echoed.

The matter set aside, tabled in favor of the far more pressing matters at stake, the two rounded the console to see that the humans  _still_ hadn't moved from the position they had held when the Doctor had finished regenerating. It made Kayla frown and eye Jack, Donna, and Mickey with concern. She could understand the reaction from Donna, but Jack and Mickey had already known about regeneration.

She relaxed when they moved, stiffly, as the Doctor started to address them, "You see? Used the regeneration energy to heal myself, but as soon as that was done, I didn't need to change. I didn't want to, why would I? Look at me!" Despite knowing the vanity in the Doctor's rhetorical question was false, it still didn't stop Kayla from sending him a glare. A glare that he took ignored as he kept going, "So, to stop the energy going all the way, I siphoned off the rest into a handy bio-matching receptacle - namely, my hand. My hand, there. My handy spare hand."

Not one of the humans spoke, and Kayla could feel anxiety starting to build in the Doctor as people he cared about deeply, which included Mickey no matter how hard the Doctor would deny it, didn't react favorably to the sight in front of him. After a pregnant pause that couldn't have been more than a few seconds, yet felt incredibly long, Donna was the first one to speak and to take a step forward, "You're still you?"

"I'm still me," the Doctor confirmed with heavy relief in his voice. When Donna jogged towards him and hugged him tight, he hugged her just as tight back with a huge beam on his face.

With the ice broken by Donna, Jack and Mickey moved out of their spots as well. Mickey and the Doctor were an awkward, humorous display as one went for a hug and one went for a handshake, each switching their role before finally settling for one of those hugs most males give to each other where they thump each other on the back firmly, as if the shared pain was some sort of greeting ritual. The sight made Kayla roll her eyes and Donna snort.

Perhaps it was hypocritical of her to make fun of the Doctor's and Mickey's hug, because she was soon gathered into one by her father. Jack squeezed her tight, but any discomfort was worth it when he pulled back to take her in, beaming at the sight of his daughter truly happy.

"You were right," she admitted in a soft voice.

Jack's heartfelt smile became cheeky, "Course I was. When am I not?"

Hitting him on the shoulder, Kayla moved away to give Mickey a hug. It was shorter than the one she had given Jack, but when she had moved back enough to see his face, she could see that Mickey was happy to see her.

"You did that glowy thing too!"

"About a year ago," Kayla confirmed, "Still me, though."

Mickey smile grew, but it slipped off in moments, "The last time I saw you…"

Kayla inhaled sharply, knowing what Mickey was about to mention. He opened his mouth to continue, but Kayla cut him off, "Something…complicated happened, and it –"

"Oh." Once more, Mickey drew her into a hug. This one was longer, long enough for Kayla to close her eyes, but it ended in a timespan that was far too short for Kayla to truly feel okay. Any hug, however, would be too short for Kayla to feel okay about the loss.

Despite that painful reminder, the atmosphere in the TARDIS still felt safe and, while not happy, comforting. It was easy to pretend that everything was fine, but Kayla had learned that trying to escape from problems meant that they would just seek you out. It came as no surprise that one of the alerts the Doctor had set went off. It was a dinging noise, but it was piercing and rang in Kayla's ears long after it had rang out. It dispelled the relaxed atmosphere and prompted everyone to gather at the console so they could all see the monitor despite there being no real need. The display of four Daleks encircling the TARDIS was one that brought no shock. They were clearly communicating, but as the Doctor made to turn the sound on, everything went dark. The Doctor tried some of the buttons on the console only to have no response from the TARDIS, "Power's gone," he frowned and scratched at the back of his neck, "Must be a chronon loop," he decided.

There wasn't time to ponder on the implications, because there was a horrible crash and the TARDIS tilted to one said, sending the group to the ground painfully. The TARDIS soon balanced out, but it still took a bit for everyone to feel sure enough to get to their feet once more. Slowly, the TARDIS seemed to repower up, but its hum lacked the comforting aspect as if it too was scared.

"There's a massive Dalek ship at the center of the planets," Jack informed them, "They're calling it the Crucible. Guess that's our destination."

For a moment, the TARDIS fell into a heavy silence as the knowledge of where they were going did the exact opposite of comforting them. A massive Dalek ship was not something any reasonable creature wanted to even  _think_ about being on, let alone know they were going to be there soon with no choice in the matter.

It was Donna who was able to turn their thoughts from massive Dalek ships. "You said these planets were like an engine. But what for?"

The Doctor frowned at the question for a moment, mulling it over. In a sudden rush, he spun and pointed at Mickey, "Mickey! You've been in a parallel world. That world's running ahead of this universe – you've seen the  _future,_ what was it?"

Mickey shivered, "It's the darkness," he answered.

"The stars were going out," Donna put in.

Mickey nodded, "Rose was the first one to notice, but we all saw it soon enough. Whenever we would look up at the sky, we would see less and less stars. Rose commissioned a special project this…this Dimension Cannon thing," he held it up, allowing everyone to eye his yellow, button-like transport method, "It's supposed to rip holes through different universes, but it wasn't working for the longest time until it just  _did._ After that it was like everything just fell apart. Every single dimension we went to, it was just becoming darker and darker. It was like something was destroying everything."

"I doubt that cannon thing helped," Kayla snapped.

Wisely, Mickey looked sheepish at that, "I thought it was a really bad idea too. If everything is already flimsy, then why would you go hitting a cannon at it?"

"Then why'd you use it?"

"By the time I could get people properly angry about it, it was too late, and everything was collapsing. This is our last hope."

Kayla could still feel anger bubbling inside of her, but one look at Mickey's face, long with regret, reminded her that he was not the one she should be angry at. It was too obvious who was, and the slow, tired nod Mickey gave when Kayla said, "Rose was the only one using the cannons before," confirmed it.

"She's on house-arrest. If this works out, then she'll be placed in jail."

"But how did she meet me?"

Everyone looked at Donna and then to Mickey waiting for the answer.

"That was the last trip she did before she was arrested," Mickey explained, "When she came back all she did was talk about  _you._ Just stuff about the timelines 'converging' onto you," he shrugged, "I didn't really understand it."

Donna shook her head, not in rejection to what Mickey had said, but in disbelief, "But why me? I mean...what have I ever done? I'm a temp from Chiswick!"

"You've been a companion on the TARDIS," Kayla pointed out.

Perhaps her words would have been more comforting to Donna if they hadn't been followed by the same piercing ding as when the Daleks first surrounded the TARDIS. They all looked to the monitor, and while there were only two people in the group that could read the complicated circles that made up the Gallifreyan language, it wasn't a surprise for the others when the Doctor informed them that they had reached the Dalek Crucible.

Within moments, they landed with a crash that jolted them severely, nearly knocking them off their feet. There was a tense silence that fell in the TARDIS and outside as either side waited for the other to make the first move. Daleks had never been good at waiting, though, and it was only a minute or so until the booming, deep voice of the leader of the Daleks, reached them,  **"Doctor! Kayla!" You will both step forth or die!"**

The Doctor eyed the door separating them from the Dalek hoard carefully. His voice was weighted down as he shook his head, looked at the three humans in front of them, and informed them that they had to go out there, "'Cos if we don't, they'll get in."

"You told me nothing could get through those doors. You've got extrapolator shielding," Jack said, a note of alarm ringing in each word.

The Doctor just shook his head, "Last time we fought the Daleks, they were scavengers and hybrids and mad. But this is a fully fledged Dalek Empire...at the height of its power. Experts at fighting TARDISes, they can do anything," as Jack's eyes widened in a horrified realization, the Doctor finished with, "Right now, that wooden door...is just wood."

Never one to give up, Jack turned to Mickey, "What about your Dimension Jump?"

"It needs another twenty minutes," Mickey answered.

"It's too risky to use, anyways," Kayla said, "Something could go wrong and the collapsing dimensions could give the Daleks even more power."

The thought made everyone shiver, but it didn't deter the Doctor from looking at Jack and Kayla, "What about your Vortex Manipulators?"

"Went down with the power-loss," Jack answered.

Pulling the sleeve of her red shirt back, a quick glance at hers made Kayla curse under her breath and report, "Same."

With all the options exhausted, the group faced the door of the TARDIS, "Right then. All of us together."

Kayla glanced around to check on Donna, only to see that the ginger was standing apart from them all. Breaking away too, Kayla placed a hand on Donna's shoulder, "Donna?"

Her eyes moist with unshed tears, Donna's reaction to Kayla was slow, as if she had been pulled from a trance. Her, "yeah," came far after Kayla had said her name.

For a moment, Kayla was about to ask if she was okay, but the question rang false and silly in her head.  _No one_ should be okay in situation like this, and if Donna had said that she was, it would have been a lie. Instead, Kayla apologized, "I'm really sorry. There's nothing else we can do."

"No, I know."

Slowly, glancing over her shoulder at Donna a few times, Kayla went back to the Doctor's side and took his hand. When the same Dalek with the deep voice called for them to come out once more, she squeezed his hand and he squeezed back.

"Daleks. Oh, God!" Jack commented. The laughter that followed was one of complete and utter nerves, yet it somehow lightened the feeling in the TARDIS.

"It's been good, though, hasn't it?" The question hung in the air, overlapping with the Doctor's next words, "All of us...all of it...everything we did..." his voice trailed off as his eyes flirted around the room, landing on Donna first, "You were brilliant," the smile Donna wore because of the compliment wasn't marred by the tears she was barely holding in, "And you were brilliant," he said to Jack.

Jack's grin was one that was filled with a humble pride, a look that Kayla knew he hadn't worn since he was young and received compliments for the actions that reflected his true self and not the one of drama and attention that he so often portrayed. It was like the years had been lifted off of him, and for one moment, Kayla was seeing the same guy who had come to the Time Agency and introduced himself with his real name of Javic Piotr Thane. He had come such a long way since then, growing into a man Kayla was proud to call her father.

The Doctor gave the same line to Mickey as well, making him smile just as brightly as the others. He had always felt like he was second best, but he was no longer the youth that had run after Rose while knowing she loved someone else. While it had been hidden before, it was clear to everyone that Mickey Smith was a truly remarkable person.

It came as no surprise that while the Doctor gave Kayla the same line as everyone else, though through their mental link he said something else,  _'Kayla, I've not regretted a single moment.'_

' _Me neither.'_

With the Doctor's words as their final comfort, Mickey, Jack, Kayla, and the Doctor exited the TARDIS with Donna bringing up the rear. Still close enough to run back to the TARDIS, they stood, pressed together out of instinctive fear, as a large red Dalek, gold accents showing it to be the Supreme Dalek, towered in the center of the room on a platform. At the sight of their group, it boomed out,  **"Daleks reign supreme! All hail the Daleks!"**

Around them, the bronze-colored Daleks took up the chant,  **"Daleks reign supreme! All hail the Daleks! Daleks reign supreme! All hail the Daleks!"**

The air became thick and heavy as it was filled with the Daleks' cries. Kayla felt as if a weight was being placed on her chest, one that made it hard to breathe, and the chanting still continued, the identical voices becoming one loud chant.

" **Behold, Doctor and Kayla. Behold the might of the true Dalek Race."**

Glancing back to see how the others were doing, Kayla frowned as she saw that there was no Donna and that the door to the TARDIS was still opened, indicating that Donna had never exited in the first place, "Donna," she called, moving a bit away from the Doctor so her voice could be heard, "It's not safer in there then out here."

Normally, Kayla would have felt confident that that had work, for Donna was no coward and had likely stopped to calm herself, but something felt…off. She had a feeling in her gut, a clenching, anxiety filled one that made her start to inch her way to the TARDIS, trying not to alert the Daleks. When the doors slammed shut, however, she sprinted to them and pulled on the handles, the Doctor joining her in her attempt to open them soon after.

"Doctor?! Kayla?!" Donna's voice, shrill and carrying through the doors, followed by the rattles of her own attempt to opening them, made Kayla try even harder to get her out, ignoring the accusation filled, "What've you done?" that was flung out.

"It wasn't us, we didn't do anything!" The Doctor shouted back.

While Donna continued to shout through the door, her panic stopping her from truly listening to what was going on, Kayla continued to attempt to open the doors. Next to her, the Doctor turned and shouted his own question filled with accusation, "What did you do?"

" **This is not of Dalek origin."**

Giving up on her own attempts, Kayla turned to send the Dalek a glare, "That's our friend in there! Open the door so we can get her out!"

" **This is Time Lord treachery!"**

"Bull shit!"

"The door closed on its own!" the Doctor shouted.

" **Nevertheless: the TARDIS is a weapon and it will be destroyed."**

The Doctor reacted just in time, pulling Kayla and himself away from the TARDIS just as a trapdoor opened beneath it. They could only watch in helpless horror as the TARDIS fell down a dark tube, speeding out of their sight within seconds.

"What're you doing?! Bring it back!" The Doctor shouted at the Supreme Dalek. When it gave no reply, he shouted again, "What've you done?! Where's it going?"

" **The Crucible has a heart of Z-Neutrino Energy. The TARDIS will be deposited into the core."**

The horror that filled Kayla was one that choked off her voice. She mutely shook her head, as the Doctor protested, his voice rising as at the thought of the TARDIS getting torn apart in the energy without its defenses. Mickey advanced on the Supreme Dalek, joining in on the protests as well and Jack quickly followed in suit. But their protests did nothing. Daleks knew nothing of mercy, only how to hurt others. In a clear form of bragging, its voice boomed out above the shouts,  **"The female and the TARDIS will perish together! Observe."**

A holographic screen appeared on command, hanging above them in the air. They turned to look at it, watching the display. It was fuzzy, but Kayla could make out the Z-Neutrino Energy, a ball of energy so large and so bright that it rivaled the sun. There, looking impossibly small, the TARDIS bobbed up and down in the energy.

The Doctor stepped forward robotically, as if he was drawn to the sight in front of him. Kayla doubted he would register anything around him, which was probably for the better because the Supreme Dalek gloated at the sight of their shared anguish,  **"The last children of Gallifrey are powerless."**

As it became clear that the TARDIS was going to lose her fight against the energy, the Doctor turned to the Supreme Dalek and did the only thing he could do: He begged.

"Please. I'm begging you, I'll do anything!" He looked back in forth at the screen and the Dalek, his movements becoming more and more frantic, "Put me in her place! You can do anything to me, I don't care, just get her out of there!"

But there was no availing to the Dalek. Frantic, red in the face, and starting to sweat, the Doctor turned back to the screen. Kayla could feel his anguish; it was sharp and was spreading through her as well. The TARDIS was the last piece of Gallifrey, had been with him forever, and the Doctor loved it, and Donna…Donna was his best mate! Helpless to do anything, he would have to watch as two things he loved were destroyed.

" **You are connected to the TARDIS. Now, feel it die."**

As the Daleks around them started to count down, Kayla took the Doctor's hand. Just as the Daleks' mocking countdown had predicted, the TARDIS disappeared when they reached number one. Even though the screen was empty, the Doctor didn't move his eyes from it. Something was growing inside of him, getting larger and larger. When the Supreme Dalek started to mock their grief once more, Kayla felt the same tide growing inside her as well.

" **The TARDIS has been destroyed. Now, tell me, Doctor and Kayla... what do you two feel? Anger? Sorrow? Despair?"**

"Yeah," the Doctor said, his voice low and dark.

" **Then, if emotions are so important, surely we have enhanced you."**

If it hadn't been for Jack, Kayla was sure that the Doctor would attack the Supreme Dalek and try to rip it apart with his plans, and Kayla...Kayla doubted she would have stopped him. Perhaps for a moment or two, she would protest, but she would likely join the Doctor's attempts as well. Without Jack, the plan the group had come up with in the TARDIS would have failed, and Jack  _never_ let plans fail. Even if the plan had changed with the loss of Donna, Jack would fight for the plan.

Despite knowing about the plan, Jack's shout still came as a surprise. She whipped her head around to stare at Jack when he yelled, "Yeah? Feel this!" Gun out, Jack shot at the Supreme Dalek with little care that the bullets bounced off of its casing and landed on the floor. She knew what would happen next, but that didn't make it any easier to watch as Jack fell to the ground with a thud as the noise from the Dalek laser that had killed him rang in the air.

Even though she knew Jack would be alright, Kayla still knelt by his side, took his head, squeezed it, and begged Jack to somehow, someway,  _live._ Her cries echoed around the room, and her body blocked Jack's chest just enough that his return to life, confirmed by the sudden warmth and returned squeeze from his hand, went unnoticed by the Daleks. They needed someone free to operate on the Dalek ship, and killing Jack had been the only way to accomplish this.

She had hated the plan when the Doctor had first brought it up, but when Jack had supported it with a simple nod and a confirmation that he would do it, Kayla could only hug her father and make him promise her that he would protect the Earth. Once again, she was pulled into a hug, but this was one from her Bonded and one that shielded her in a defensive, protect gesture that the hug with Jack had not needed. The added element of Mickey's comforting hand on her shoulder was the weight Kayla used to remind herself that the plan was necessary to defeat the Daleks.

Even when the Doctor, Kayla, and Mickey were sent to the Vault to become the playthings of Davros, the outcome they had wanted while in the TARDIS, Kayla didn't feel like their plan had gotten them anywhere close to something they had wanted. Jack would be able to try and find a way to stop the Daleks, yes, but it had come at the terrible price of the TARDIS and Donna. If it meant that either the Donna or the TARDIS survived, then Kayla would gladly allow the plan to fly off the rails.

Though the Doctor kept his arm around her the entire time they were led by the Daleks to Davros, the only comfort Kayla could find in the situation was that their plan had taken on a different weight. If their plan was a success, then Donna's and the TARDIS' losses would not be in vain. While they would still be gone, if Kayla was able to defeat the monsters that had caused their destruction she hoped that one day, far into the future, she would no longer blame herself.

In this moment, however, a future like that seemed impossible. The weight of guilt and sorrow, from both herself and the Doctor, crushed down on the Time Lady until she could barely remain walking. She was almost relieved when they reached the Vault and were ordered to stop by the Daleks. Any relief, however, was taken away when Kayla realized that Davros was lingering in the shadows. Like a shark, he circled the Time Lord as they were separated from Mickey and forced to stand, waiting, until he finally spoke,  **"Activate the holding cells.**

Like spotlights, a circle wall of light enshrouded the Doctor and Kayla, and a few feet away, Mickey was treated the same. With any other villain, Kayla would have felt comforted that she and the Doctor had not been split apart, but Davros had been the mastermind behind the nightmarish treatment of Bonded couples. What had once been a comfort had been tainted into  _more_ fear of what Davros had in store.

Likewise, being able to see the previously dimly-lit Vault was barely comforting. The light from the two holding cells allowed Kayla to see the underwhelming, basement-like space. In the corners, several Daleks were rolling back and forth like guard dogs. They were blocking off the only door out of the Vault, and Kayla couldn't help but wonder just how much of that was protection  _for_ their creator rather than protection  _against_ their creator.

Turning her gaze away from the Daleks, Kayla watched as Davros rolled towards them. He eyed them as if they were specimen he wanted to cut open and experiment on,  **"Excellent. Even when powerless, a Time Lord is best contained,"** his lips curled into a sickening version of a smile as he eyed the way the Doctor and Kayla involuntarily stood closer than necessary to each other,  **"Especially when that Time Lord is with his Bonded."**

"Still scared of me, then?" The Doctor taunted. It was a clear attempt to get Davros' attention off Kayla, and it worked. He watched with twisted amusement as the Doctor pressed his palm to the light cell. A hum sounded, and one ring of blue light traveled around, but otherwise nothing else happened. For a moment, Kayla was surprised that the Doctor's hand was burnt by the cell, but her surprised vanished as she remembered that that would take the  _fun_ away from Davros.

" **It is time we talked, Doctor, after so very long—"**

"No, no, no, no, no. We're not doing the nostalgia tour. I want to know what's happening right here, right now, 'cos the Supreme Dalek said 'vault', yeah?" Kayla felt proud as her own thoughts about Davros' living arrangements came out of the Doctor's mouth in a mocking, knowing tone, "As in, dungeon. Cellar. Prison. You're not in charge of the Daleks, are you? They've got you locked away down here in the basement, like, what, a servant? Slave? Court jester?"

" **We have…an arrangement."**

Kayla snorted at the coy answer, "Call it what you want, it won't change that you've been locked in the basement like some sort of disgrace."

Moving away from the Doctor, Davros put his full attention onto Kayla,  **"So very full of fire the two of you are. And to think, just one of those fires going out will end you both."**

"Leave her alone."

" **She is mine to do as I please."**

"Then why am I still alive?"

" **You must be here. It was foretold. Even the Supreme Dalek would not dare to contradict the prophesies of Dalek Caan."**

Just like on the video they had watched in the TARDIS, Davros pressed a button on his control panel and the platform that Dalek Caan was sitting on was illuminated once more. The exposed Dalek looked just as horrible as before, though this time Kayla could clearly see the scorch marks on its armor where it had been blown off,  **"So cold and dark. Fire is coming...the endless flames..."**

Mickey, who's cell was closer to Dalek Caan than the Doctor's and Kayla's, shied away from the platform, "What is that thing?"

"Last of the Cult of Skaro. He was there when Torchwood One fell," recognition flared in Mickey's eyes at that, and Kayla fell silent, allowing the Doctor to explain that the Dalek had gone into the Time War unprotected, causing its current state.

" **Caan did more than that. He saw Time. Its infinite complexity and majesty raging through his mind. And...he saw you. All three of you."**

Kayla could see the shock in Mickey's eyes at his inclusion in this prophecy, and she couldn't blame him for it. It shocked her too that Mickey was seen in the Vault and not someone like Donna or Jack. As much as she cared for Mickey, his time in the TARDIS had been short lived, and his relationship with the Doctor and herself was the weakest out of the group of humans they had set out with.

Dalek Caan's follow up to this did nothing for the confusion Kayla felt,  **"This I have foreseen in the wild and the wind. The Doctor and Kayla will be here, as witness, at the end of everything. The Doctor, Kayla, and their precious Children of Time!"** The giggled that followed this prophecy was unnerving and repulsive,  **"And one of them will die...!"**

The realization that hit the Doctor slammed into Kayla too. It was either Davros or Dalek Caan that had closed the TARDIS doors, and not wanting to truly anger Davros led the Doctor to shout at the safer target of Dalek Caan, "Was it you, Caan? Did you kill Donna? Why did the TARDIS door close? Tell me!"

His shouting was not worth it for the delight it brought Davros. His smile was one that mocked all other smiled, that twisted all of them, and it made Kayla want to be sick. The only thing that stopped her was the knowledge that Davros would likely get some sort of pleasure out of  _that_ as well. She could still glare, though, so she glared she did as Davros taunted the Doctor,  **"Oh, that's it! The end, the fire, the rage of a Time Lord who butchered millions. There he is. Why so shy? Show your Bonded…show her your true self,"** when no retort came from the Doctor, Davros peered at him,  **"Dalek Caan has promised me that, too."**

" **I have seen it. At the time of ending, the Doctor's soul will be revealed."**

"What does that mean?"

" **We will discover it together... our final journey. Because the ending approaches. The testing begins."**

As Davros wheeled away, Kayla shouted after him, "Testing of what?"

With a twist, prideful look, Davros turned to answer,  **"The Reality Bomb."**

* * *

Refusing to answer any more questions, there was nothing the trio could do but wait until Davros finally came back over to them with that same, twisted, prideful look from before,  **"Behold…** t **he apotheosis of my genius."**

Touching a button on his control panel, a holographic screen was activated, displaying a chamber filled with frightened humans that were about to be tested on. A bright light started to grow rapidly on the screen; its strength becoming blinding within moments, but it was only becoming stronger.

"But that's Z-Neutrino Energy. Flattened by the alignment of the planets into a single stream. No," his panic so strong, the Doctor turned to Davros desperately, "Davros. Davros, you can't! You CAN'T! NO!"

Through the light, Kayla could barely make out the humans. One by one, they started to dissolve and break apart into atoms. By the time the test was over, and the light had disappeared, there was no sign that the chamber had ever been occupied.

"Doctor, what happened?"

Not one to miss an opportunity to show off, Davros was the one that answered Mickey's question,  **"Electrical energy, Mr. Smith. Every atom in existence is bound by an electrical field. The Reality Bomb cancels it out - structure falls apart. That test was focused on the prisoners alone. Full transmission will dissolve every form of matter."**

"The stars are going out," Micky whispered, the repeated line taking on a new and horrifying meaning.

Originally, Kayla had thought it had just been the transporter that had broken down the walls separating the universes, and while she knew that had likely sped up their situation through the tears it created to get through to the other universes, it never would have worked had the wave of energy not started to substantially weaken the walls. Once one wall crumbled, the cannon would have started working and the holes would have started to appear in the other universes, allowing the energy to accelerate and go through an easy path instead of creating its own.

It made Kayla stare at Davros with new found horror. That…that  _thing_ was so twisted that he wanted to destroy everything in all universes. Davros was a monster the way even other Daleks weren't, because while they were just following orders,  _Davros_ was the one that had thought up the order in the first place. Somehow, it had the gall to nod patronizingly along with Doctor as the Time Lord numbly realized that the 27 planets were being used as both a generator and a transmitter for the wave,  **"Across the entire universe. Never stopping. Never faltering. Never fading. People and planets and stars will become dust. And the dust will become atoms and the atoms will become...nothing. And the wavelength will continue, breaking through the Rift at the heart of the Medusa Cascade into every dimension, every parallel, every single corner of creation,"** its face twisted into a grin that made Kayla involuntarily step back,  **"This is my ultimate victory, Doctor! The destruction of reality itself!"**

* * *

The Vault had fallen silent as the Doctor, Kayla, and Mickey slumped down in their cells after Davros had revealed his master plan and then left them alone. All they were relying on was Jack, but as the time waxed on and on, Kayla became certain something had gone wrong. When she wasn't worrying about Jack, was thinking about the test they had watched. At least it looked painless. The rest of the universe wouldn't know what happened; one minute they'd be there and the next they'd be completely gone.

On and on her thoughts went, circling around mockingly in her head. Davros had finally achieved his dream of being able to kill a Time Lord without triggering regeneration, but at some point, that dream added everything in creation. At least she wouldn't have to be around to see that, and she tried to force some humor into her thoughts at the idea of just Daleks ruling the universe, still constantly wanting to kill while there was nothing else to kill.

That thought was cut short, however, when a holographic screen suddenly appeared in the Vault. The three prisoners watched it with a mixture of shock, and happiness, at seeing Martha Jones, dirtied but otherwise unharmed, " _This message is for the Dalek Crucible. Repeat: can you hear me?"_

The Doctor was up on his feet, pulling Kayla up as well, within moments of seeing Martha. He turned to Davros, "Put me through!"

" **It begins as Dalek Caan foretold."**

" **The Children of Time will gather...and one of them will die!"**

"Will you shut  _up?!"_ Kayla was surprised when Dalek Caan actually  _did_ stop speaking, but she didn't test the sudden silence for too long. She turned to Davros, "Put us through."

Davros pressed a button and Martha gasped as she was put through and was able to see the Vault,  _"Doctor! Kayla! I'm sorry. I had to."_

" **Oh! But the Doctor and Kayla are powerless – my prisoners. State your intent."**

The guilt that had flashed across Martha's face when she had seen and apologized to the Time Lords was gone as she addressed Davros firmly, her role of a UNIT solider clear,  _"I've got the Osterhagen Key. Leave this planet and its people alone, or I'll use it."_

"Martha!"

The Doctor looked back and forth between Kayla and Martha, confusion clear on his face, "What's an Osterhagen Key?"

" _There's a chain of twenty-five nuclear warheads placed in strategic points beneath the Earth's crust. If I use the key, they detonate, and the Earth gets ripped apart."_

"We haven't reached the point of needing it, Martha," Kayla said firmly, "There's still time."

"You knew about this?!"

"Yes," Kayla admitted, "When I was at UNIT they approached me and asked if I could help them pick who would be responsible for each of the keys. There are twelve people who have been trusted to hold them."

"Are you two  _insane?!"_

" _The Osterhagen Key is to be used if the suffering of the Human Race is so great, so without hope...that this becomes the final option,"_ Martha said, and while the Doctor might have seen that as just propaganda, Kayla could see how much effort it was causing her to say that this could ever be a valid option.

Kayla knew that the Doctor would never understand why that key needed to be there and why Kayla had helped to make sure it would  _never_ be dismantled. He didn't like to think about the universe without him, and while Kayla didn't like that thought either, she knew that it was a reality. At some point, a defenseless Earth would be attacked, and that key would be a mercy kill the humans would desperately need.

The Doctor would never get that, though. His protest that that was  _never_ an option came as no surprise. Kayla had warned Martha that the Doctor would never approve, and like when she had looked Kayla in the eye, she looked down at the Doctor and Kayla with clear determination,  _"Don't argue with me, Doctor."_ She turned her gaze to Davros, the determination still there,  _"'Cos there's more than that. Now, I reckon the Daleks need these twenty-seven planets for something, but what if it becomes twenty-six? What happens then? Daleks? Would you risk it?"_

Kayla couldn't help but be impressed with how Martha sat there and held her ground, and while she would have to privately convey her pride to her, she was glad Mickey gave the recognition she deserved when he whistled, "She's good."

" _Who's that?"_

"Mickey Smith."

Martha nodded at the name and then stared at Davros waiting for his response. He didn't give one to her, because the attention was drawn to a second screen that appeared alongside Martha's. In it was Jack and Sarah Jane Smith, equally determined and lined faces. Despite the seriousness of their situation, Jack still was able to smile,  _"Captain Jack Harkness calling all Dalek boys and girls! Are you receiving me? Don't send in your goons or I'll set this thing off,"_ he said with a shake of a minuscule object that was wired to something.

"Oh, thank god," Kayla breathed as she saw Jack's face. He looked smudged, but otherwise unharmed. Her eyes went over to Sarah Jane, and she watched as the older woman who had once been so pained by the way she had been cast aside now stood tall and proud.

"Captain, what are you doing?" The Doctor asked.

" _I've got a Warp Star wired into the mainframe. I break the shell...the entire Crucible goes up."_

The relief that Kayla had had upon seeing the two familiar faces was quickly lost at the threat that was delivered with them. She had expected Martha's threat, and Jack's was no surprise, but Sarah Jane was a heavy shock. The Doctor had always undermined his importance to the protection of Earth, and that had come with a price of desperate thoughts and behaviors, but her understanding of the situation didn't stop the concern she was starting to feel for the Doctor. He had always preached peace and diplomacy over violence, and she could feel that it was cutting him deeply to see his companions turn towards extreme violence.

It killed him to even have to protest against them because he had expected so much  _better._ That was why his voice shook when he cried out, "You can't! Where did you get a Warp Star?!"

" _From me,"_ Sarah Jane admitted, her voice trembling,  _"We had no choice, we saw what happened to the prisoners."_

Her voice drew the attention of Davros, and he moved closer to the screen,  **"Impossible. That face...after all these years."**

Sarah Jane paled as she saw Davros and whispered his name, but then something hard entered her gaze, and she lifted her head,  _"That's been quite a while. Sarah Jane Smith. Remember?"_

" **Oh, this is meant to be. The Circle of Time is closing. You were there on Skaro at the very beginning of my creation."**

" _And I've learned how to fight since then. You let them go or this Warp Star - it gets opened!"_

The half-snarled threat was emphasized by Jack tweaking the necklace threateningly,  _"I'll do it. Don't imagine I wouldn't."_

Kayla turned to the Doctor and took in his wounded expression, "Doctor," she started but then sighed as her mind came up with no words of comfort to give to her Bonded and the raging feelings of sadness and so much guilt that coursed through him.

" **And the prophesy unfolds."**

" **The Doctor's soul is revealed!"** Dalek Caan crackled, the noise sending the same horrible sensation that nails on a chalkboard did,  **"See him! See the heart of him!"**

The Doctor didn't look up as Davros wheeled closer, nor did he look up with the creature started to taunt him,  **"The man who abhors violence, never carrying a gun. But this is the truth, Doctor: you take ordinary people and you fashion THEM into weapons. Behold your Children of Time transformed into murderers. I made the Daleks, Doctor. You made this."**

* * *

**I'm pretty happy with this chapter. This episode is super fun to write because of all the character interactions and just because it's a super good episode.**

**I thought that it made sense for Kayla to be involved with making the Osterhagen Key, especially in the mindset that she was in when she was at UNIT. Overtime, her position might change, but for now, she sees it as a necessary, but horrible, evil.**


	30. Journey's End Pt. 2

" **And the prophesy unfolds."**

" **The Doctor's soul is revealed!"**  Dalek Caan crackled, the noise sending the same horrible sensation that nails on a chalkboard did,  **"See him! See the heart of him!"**

The Doctor didn't look up as Davros wheeled closer, nor did he look up with the creature started to taunt him,  **"The man who abhors violence, never carrying a gun. But this is the truth, Doctor: you take ordinary people and you fashion THEM into weapons. Behold your Children of Time transformed into murderers. I made the Daleks, Doctor. You made this."**

In their shared cell, Kayla took his hand and clasped it between hers. The Doctor didn't look up, not wanting to risk seeing the unbearable sight of Sarah Jane Smith, Jack Harkness, and Martha Jones all threatening extreme acts of violence in a desperate attempt to stop the Daleks. Kayla could understand their reasoning. Sarah Jane and Jack had seen prisoners of the Daleks tested on, a test that had ended with every single one of the prisoners completely and utterly erased, broken down to their atoms. Martha had seen the end of the Earth once and had seen how vicious the Daleks could be; those memories had been the reason why Kayla had picked her to be one of the twelve people responsible for a key that could destroy Earth.

"They're just trying to help," Kayla whispered to the Doctor, but that did nothing to rid him of the deep, deep guilt he was feeling.

" **Already, I have seen them sacrifice today for their beloved Doctor. The Earth woman who fell opening the subwave network"**

"Who was that?" The Doctor asked thickly.

"Harriet Jones," Mickey answered, pulling the attention onto him, "She gave her life to get you here."

" **How many more? Just think. How many have died in your name?"**

And the Doctor thought of so many people, some Kayla recognized, and others she didn't. The images flashed through her mind at a dizzying rate, too fast for Kayla to get a full thought about the person except for the fact that they were dying, and the Doctor blamed himself for their deaths. All Kayla could do was pull the Doctor into a hug and hope that that small contact would be enough.

" **The Doctor...the man who keeps running, never looking back, because he dare not, out of shame. This is my final victory, Doctor. I have shown you...yourself."**

' _That's not all of you, Doctor,'_ when the Doctor didn't respond, she pressed on,  _'That's barely a bit of you. There are so many more who are alive because of you. There are so many more who are happy, safe, and warm because of you. I'm alive because of you, and I promise you that the family we want is still alive.'_

That final part about herself was what made the memories in the Doctor's head pause, still, and slowly seep back to the darkened corners of his mind. He looked up from the ground, but only to look at Kayla. If they had been anywhere else, they would have kissed, but with Davros circling them like a shark, the only contact either felt comfortable with was a protective hug similar to the one that the Doctor had drawn Kayla into when she was pretending to mourn Jack.

It seemed that the Doctor had recovered just in time because Martha, Jack, and Sarah Jane were deposited into the Vault when a quick order from Davros. They reacted quickly to their sudden change in surroundings, Jack helping Martha and Sarah Jane up as soon as he had gotten to his own feet.

"Don't move! All of you! Stay still!" The Doctor shouted from his cell.

That did nothing to deter the former companions, and they continued to move about, glaring at the Daleks until Davros wheeled in,  **"Guard them! On your knees, all of you. Surrender!"**

"Do as he says," the Doctor begged.

Daleks encircled them, so one by one, the freshly arrived trio fell to their knees and put their hands behind their heads, clearly hating the position they were putting themselves in. Davros clearly enjoyed that, and he soaked in the image before he wheeled away,  **"The final prophesy is in place. The Doctor, Kayla, and their children all gathered as witnesses. Supreme Dalek...the time has come!"** With a voice trembling with twisted excitement, Davros shouted,  **"Now…detonate the Reality Bomb!"**

His finger pointed upwards as an unsettling vibration, strong enough that it felt like it was shaking Kayla's very bones, started and  _grew_. The Doctor attempted to plead for Davros to stop, but any morsel of reason Davros might've had in his body was long gone, and the manic laughter he produced at the Doctor's plea was proof of this,  **"Nothing can stop the detonation! Nothing! And no-one!"**

It turned out, though, that Davros had spoken too soon. The familiar grinding sound of the TARDIS filled the Vault, and everyone looked as it materialized into the room without a scratch on it. No one could say that they weren't happy to see the TARDIS, but it was clear everyone, even the Doctor and Kayla, were thrown by its impossible appearance. An appearance that only became  _more_ shocking when the doors were thrown open and a lanky male figure stood in the doorway, only partially blocking the blinding warm light from within. The figure wasn't still for long, though, and he was quickly sprinting out, revealing him to be  _very_ familiar to everyone in Vault.

"Brilliant," Jack laughed.

Kayla felt that that was a good summary of the sight in front of her. Somehow, someway, there was a  _Second_ Doctor completely identical to the one Kayla was in a cell with. The only thing that separated the two were their clothes; the Doctor Kayla was with was wearing his brown pinstripe suit, and this Second Doctor was wearing a TARDIS blue suit.

The Second Doctor started to sprint towards Davros with a device in his hands. Clearly afraid, Davros rolled back from the quickly advancing Second Doctor, but eventually he stopped moving. Realizing what was about to happen, the Doctor shouted a panic warning just a second before Davros sent electricity flying from his finger. The bolt hit the Second Doctor square in the chest, and he fell to the floor winded but otherwise unharmed. Taking advantage of this weakness, Davros quickly got another holding cell around the Second Doctor.

The surprises from the TARDIS weren't  _quite_ done, though. A flustered but very much alive Donna ran from the TARDIS with a screech of, "Doctor!" She picked up the device and stared down at, "I've got it! But I don't know what to do!"

Not waiting for Donna to run towards him, Davros sent another bolt of electricity from his finger. It sent her flying through the air and she landed with a heap on the opposite end of the Vault and didn't respond to the Doctor's shouts of her name.

" **Destroy the weapon!"** At the command from Davros, one of the Daleks sent a ray from his gun and the device, whatever it was, exploded. Looking almost disgusted, Davros sent a sneer towards the Doctor and Kayla,  **"I was wrong about your warriors. They are pathetic."**

Wheeling away, Kayla turned to peer at the Second Doctor, "It's strange," she said slowly, "He's completely like  _my_ Doctor, but I'm not Bonded with him."

"How come there are two of you?" Jack asked.

"Human biological metacrisis," the Doctor rattled off at a speed that barely allowed anyone to follow him, "Never mind that, now we've got no way of stopping the Reality Bomb."

* * *

Of course, Davros soon came back for the countdown to detonation of the Reality Bomb. It would likely be the last time he would be able to express pride to people who would actually understand the emotion he was displaying, never mind that the people he was expressing the emotion to were sickened by it. " **Stand witness, Time Lord. Stand witness, Humans."** A holographic screen appeared, showing the 27 planets,  **"Your strategies have failed, your weapons are useless, and...oh - the end of the universe is come."**

A countdown, done by the booming, deep voice of the Dalek Supreme, rang through the Vault. All in cells, there was nothing they could do but exchange looks of terror and, in the case of the Doctor and Kayla, hug each other tightly while they waited for the end. As the countdown got lower and lower, they started to brace themselves for the end of universe…but it never came. The bomb powered down, the screen went dark, and alarm sounded, and everyone, Dalek, human, and Time Lord looked around in complete confusion.

It all became clear when a familiar voice, though one filled with more confidence that Kayla had ever heard, rang out through the Vault, "Oh...closing all Z-Neutrino relay loops using an internalized synchronous back-feed reversal loop! That button there!"

Everyone turned to look at Donna Noble standing at a control panel with confidence oozing from her. At the sight, the Doctor barked out a laugh, "Donna, you can't even change a plug!"

Donna grinned back cheekily, one that was strikingly familiar to the cheeky grin the Doctor would sometimes give, "Do you wanna bet, Time Boy?"

" **You will suffer for this."**

Davros' threat only made Donna cock her head to the side and flick a switch, causing electricity to go through Davros' arm and shock him, "Oh...! Bioelectric dampening field with a retrogressive arc inversion."

" **Exterminate her!"**

Taking up the cry, the Daleks in the room started to advance towards Donna. Unlike the fear that the Doctor was starting to feel and display on his face, Donna was completely calm as she pressed a few buttons and flipped a few switches. The once advancing Daleks powered down and their gun twitched,  **"Weapons non-functional!"**

"What? Macrotransmission of a K-filter wavelength blocking Dalek weaponry in a self-replicating energy blindfold matrix?"

"How the hell did you work that out?" Kayla spluttered.

"Time Lord," the Second Doctor answered, "Part Time Lord."

"Part Human! Oh, yes! That was a two-way biological metacrisis. Half Doctor...half Donna!"

Recognition sparked in the Doctor's brain at that phrasing, and he blurted out, "The Doctor-Donna...just like the Ood said, remember? They saw it coming! The Doctor-Donna."

Beaming, Donna flipped a few switches, narrating as she went, "Holding cells deactivated. And seal the Vault. Well, don't just stand there, you skinny boys in suits – Kayla too - get to work!"

Not needing to be told twice, the Doctor, Kayla, and the Second Doctor sprinted towards the control panel, not caring at all about Davros' order to get them away from the controls. Donna easily took care of the Daleks by making them spin uncontrollably, and despite everything that had gone on so far, Kayla couldn't help but laugh at one of the Daleks repeating,  **"Help me,"** as it spun.

"What did you do?" The Second Doctor asked.

"Trip-stitch circuit-breaker in the psycho-kinetic threshold manipulator."

"But that's brilliant," the Second Doctor said with a shake of his head.

"Why did we never think of that?" The  _actual_ Doctor wondered to the Second Doctor.

"Because you two...were just Time Lords! You dumbos. Lacking that little bit of Human, that gut instinct that goes hand-in-hand with planet Earth. I could think of ideas that you two couldn't dream of in a million years! Ah, the universe has been waiting for me! Now...let's send that trip-stitch all over the ship. Did I ever tell you –" she paused and pointed to herself dramatically, "Best temp Chiswick? A hundred words per minute."

With the Daleks spinning around, the Vault became utter chaos. Add in the two impressively large guns Jack grabbed from the TARDIS, one of which he threw to Mickey, and the tides were quickly turning in their favor. With Donna's newfound abilities, plus three other very smart people, it was easy to set up the sequence to send the planets home. One by one, they were sent to their correct time and place.

"Off you go, Clom," the Doctor said with a bright grin.

"Back home, Adipose Three!"

"Shallacatop! Pyrovillia! The Lost Moon of Poosh. Topping. Ha!"

"Ha!"

As the planets continued to disappear, Kayla noticed an issue that made her frown, "We need more power."

But they still had enough power to continue, and the faster the planets were sent home, the better, so they didn't stop working. Even when Donna started to explain to the bewildered companions about how she had suddenly become a genius, a change that the Doctor and oddly enough Davros had played the main causes in, she was still typing. "Part Human...part Time Lord. And I got the best bit of the Doctor. I got his mind," Donna finished.

"So there's THREE of you?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Three Doctors," Mickey echoed.

Without looking up, Kayla knew Jack's expression was one of distraction as he commented, "I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now."

"Donna,  _this_ is why the timelines were converging on you. Human Being with a Time Lord brain. That's…" Kayla shook her head, "You're probably the most unique person in the universe."

She had truly forgotten about Davros until he suddenly spoke,  **"But you promised me, Dalek Caan. Why did you not foresee this?"**

When Dalek Caan only giggled in response, the Doctor smiled with a just few too many teeth to come off as friendly, "Oh, I think he did. Something's been manipulating the timelines for ages...getting Donna Noble to the right place at the right time."

" **This would always have happened. I only helped, Doctor."**

" **You...betrayed the Daleks?"**

" **I SAW the Daleks. What we have done throughout time and space. I saw the truth of us, Creator, and I decreed 'no more.'"**

The words were a heavy echo, and it made the Doctor and Kayla exchange wide-eyed stares. Had Dalek Caan just come up with that phrase, or had he gotten it from a certain solider known for refusing a gun? They didn't have time to ponder about it more, because a circle in the ceiling was lowering, revealing the red and gold accented Supreme Dalek. As soon as the platform it had been on reached the floor, the Supreme Dalek rolled forwards so it was in front of Davros,  **"Davros, you have betrayed us."**

" **It was Dalek Caan!"**

" **The Vault will be purged! You will all be exterminated!"**

It sent a beam towards the central column and sparks flew through the air. Jack, now with a much bigger gun, pointed it at the Supreme Dalek, "Like I was saying, feel this!" He fired, and the Supreme Dalek was blasted in half, screaming before it died.

With no other true threats, the Doctor examined the central column with a frown, "Oh, we've lost the magnatron! And there's only one planet left oh –" he laughed and shook his head, "Guess which one. Look, we can use the TARDIS!"

He raced into the TARDIS and Kayla followed him, helping him press the buttons that he rushed by in his excitement. He stopped, turned, and picked Kayla up, twirling her around before setting her back down and kissing her. It was a kiss that was filled with relief and joy at just being alive and together, but it was also short-lived as there was still work to do. That stolen celebration, however, was the only one they would get. The sound of Daleks screaming as they died reached the two of them, and they quickly ran out to see each and every Dalek exploding, shrieking as they did so.

"What've you done?!"

The Second Doctor looked up at the horrified exclamation from the Doctor, but he didn't look guilty as he answered, "Fulfilling the prophesy."

The Vault lurched violently, sending its occupants to the ground. The Doctor and Kayla watched this sickening familiar display of genocide with horror, but the Second Doctor watched it with a crazed gleam in his eyes. He only looked away when the Doctor addressed him, "Do you know what you've done? Now, get in the TARDIS!" Wise enough to not argue, he ran into the TARDIS, and he was quickly followed by Donna, Jack, Mickey, and Sarah Jane.

All that was left in the Vault was Davros, Dalek Caan, and the Doctor and Kayla. Though it was a decision she hated, Kayla still stood by her Bonded side as he held out his hand and promised Davros that he would save him if he just went with him. But Davros did not want the Doctor to be able to walk away without any sort of weight. Despite being surrounded by flames, he shouted out,  **"Never forget, Doctor - YOU did this! I name YOU, forever, YOU are the Destroyer of Worlds!"** He screamed as the flames thickened around him until he was engulfed.

They stood for as long as they could before returning to the TARDIS. Dalek Caan's final reminder before he too was engulfed, that one of their companions was still going to die, rang in their ears as they watched the companion they  _knew_ Caan was referring to smile and laugh with the others. It was painful to continue on, but the Doctor and Kayla didn't have a choice. With a pull of a lever, the TARDIS jerked into motion and was flown away from the Crucible just as it exploded. For a moment everyone was able to sigh in relief, though the relief was one that prickled in Kayla's chest like a thorn.

"But what about the Earth? It's stuck in the wrong part of space!" Sarah Jane Smith pointed out.

"We're on it," Kayla assured her. It was the truth, and she backed this up by grabbing the monitor and calling into it, "Torchwood Three, this is Kayla. Can you hear me?"

The image slowly pulled up and the familiar faces of Tosh, Owen, Gwen, and Ianto peered out at the occupants of the TARDIS. They smiled wide when they saw Kayla with Tosh even waving at her,  _"You're coming through loud and clear,"_ Tosh reported.

" _Excuse me, but is Jack there?"_

Ianto's voice made Jack stop what he was doing and join Kayla and the Doctor, "Told ya I'd come back." Ianto rolled his eyes, an act that was done by the rest of the Torchwood team and Kayla as well, but it was clear that the team, not just Ianto, was relieved to see that their leader was still alive.

"Jack, what's her name?" The Doctor asked suddenly with a point to Gwen. When Jack answered with her name, the Doctor asked Gwen, "Tell me, Gwen Cooper, are you from an old Cardiff family?"

" _Yes,"_ Gwen said slowly,  _"All the way back to the eighteen-hundreds."_

It was clear the Doctor already knew what that answer would be, for he hummed and muttered something about genetic multiplicity, though what that had to do with Gwen was as lost to Kayla as it was to Gwen herself. Shaking her head, Kayla snapped back to business, "I need you guys to open the Rift Manipulator and send all the power to the TARDIS.

She was unsurprised to see that Tosh was already sliding out of view, and from somewhere off screen, she called,  _"Doing it now!"_

"What's that for?" Martha wondered.

"We can use the energy to tow the TARDIS," Kayla answered. She moved away from the screen so that the Doctor and Sarah Jane could be seen clearly by Sarah Jane's son, Luke. Within a few minutes, and with considerable help from K-9, the supercomputer Sarah Jane had named Mr. Smith was able to wrap the released Rift energy around the Earth.

With all the parts necessary, the Doctor started to instruct the companions to different controls of the TARDIS, talking rapidly all the while, "Sarah - hold that. And Mickey - you hold that. Because, you know why this TARDIS is always rattling about the place? Jack – that there. It was designed to have six pilots and I have to do it single handed. Martha - keep that level. But not anymore! Donna there you go, steady that. Now we can fly this thing - Like it's meant to be flown! We've got the Torchwood Rift looped around the TARDIS by Mr. Smith. We're gonna fly planet Earth back home."

Taking his own place at the console, Kayla stood next to him. Together, they pulled down the lever and they were off. In the smoothest ride on the TARDIS Kayla had ever been on, they towed the Earth from the Medusa Cascade without so much as a tremor. Their group worked flawlessly, and the action that would have taken a miracle for the Doctor and Kayla to do was completed with ease. Earth was put back in its rightful place in space.

Letting go of the Rift energy, the TARDIS drifted away from Earth. That hardly mattered to its occupants, who cheered and hugged each other. Tears of joy ran down their face as they finally, after everything that they had all gone through, were able to fully relax, celebrate, and reminisce.

* * *

About thirty minutes after they had returned the Earth, the TARDIS materialized in a park. Sarah Jane, the Doctor, and Kayla stepped out, and for a moment, they were blinded by the normalcy they saw. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and a church bell was ringing in the distance.

"You know…you act like such a lonely man. But look at you! You've got the biggest family on Earth!" Sarah Jane beamed at the Doctor, "Including a woman like Kayla," she added with another beam directed at Kayla.

The Doctor pulled her into a hug that was followed by a hug from Kayla. They stepped back, smiling at each other, before Sarah Jane started to back away, shaking her head, "Gotta go! He's only fourteen! It's a long story. And thank you!" Waving goodbye, they watched as Sarah Jane ran down the path that would lead her to her home.

Next to exit was Martha and Jack, and after they had been hugged by Kayla, the Doctor dealt with the business side of things. He used the sonic screwdriver on Jack's Vortex Manipulator while grumbling, "I TOLD you, no teleport," done he moved back and gave Martha a stern look, "And Martha, get rid of that Osterhagen thing, eh? Save the world one more time."

Martha smiled, but it was a tired one, "Consider it done. Kayla was sure that the Doctor picked up on Martha's lie, but he didn't press the issue.

Instead, he asked Jack to wait for a few more seconds. Though a bit confused, Jack agreed, and Martha, with a shrug, stayed around as well. Disappearing inside the TARDIS, the Doctor brought out Mickey and the Second Doctor. It was an obvious choice for Mickey to leave the alternative universe, and by the way Martha and Jack greeted him, it seemed he would have a job offer at both Torchwood and UNIT.

"Hang on! What about Rose? Will they just release her since you didn't come back?"

Jack's question, while reasonable, was quickly answered with a firm "no" from Mickey, "After the Cybermen, we don't take chances with people like Rose."

Kayla could feel the Doctor's unease at Mickey's full answer, but just like with Martha's lie, he didn't press. His full attention was on his double and that man's actions. Snapping back in forth at each other, the Doctor claimed that the Second Doctor's decision to blow up all of the Daleks was far too similar to the genocide the Doctor regretted from the Time War, but the Second Doctor continually pressed that the decision was necessary and he didn't regret it.

"What the Doctor  _was_ trying to do," Kayla finally cut across, "is have this Second Doctor go to somewhere he will be accepted, treated the exact same as everyone else, and shown the many alternative choices he can make in a situation. He needs Torchwood Three, Jack."

Kayla was surprised when the Second Doctor didn't immediately protest his potential placement. Even though Donna's influence made this other Doctor a completely different person from the one Kayla was Bonded to, she had still been fully prepared for a protest about Torchwood's less than savory practices. The Doctor had protested similarly when Kayla had suggested it through their mental link, but Kayla had worn him down with the reminder that Torchwood Three had helped Jack mature and it had, through many of the negatives, helped herself heal as well.

The reluctance the Doctor had agreed to the idea wasn't present with his double. He had moved away from the to size Jack up for a moment. Whatever he saw was satisfactory for him, and he stuck his hand out for a handshake that Jack easily gave. With the slightest of smiles on his face, the Second Doctor became a member of Torchwood Three. He walked away from the TARDIS at Jack's side, and though he didn't laugh at whatever joke Jack told the way Martha, Mickey, and Jack himself did, Kayla could see his posture relax. With a smile, Kayla turned to look at her Bonded, only to see that his gaze was not on their friends, but on the TARDIS.

Her smile falling away, Kayla took the Doctor's hand and squeezed it. ' _We can do this, Doctor. We'll support each other through this.'_

Squeezing back, the Doctor and Kayla slowly walked into the TARDIS and sent it into space. Once there, they stepped back, leaning against the supports while Donna walked around the console and showed off her newfound knowledge, "I thought we could try the planet Felspoon...just 'cos. What a good name, 'Felspoon.' Apparently, it's got mountains that sway in the breeze. Mountains that move. Can you imagine?"

"How do you know that, Donna?" Kayla asked, the question too lost in the Doctor's throat for him to ever get it out.

"Because it's in the Doctor's head! And if it's in his head, it's in mine."

This time, it was Kayla who was quiet as the Doctor managed to ask, "And how does that feel?"

"Brilliant! Fantastic! Molto bene! Great bit of universe packed into my brain," she smiled at them widely, "You know you could fix that chameleon circuit if you just try and hotbind in the fragment links and superseding the binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary—" with a sharp intake of breath, she nearly stumbled backwards, "I'm fine," she quickly reassured.

The Doctor was the one that moved towards Donna. She was his companion, and this was something that only he could bare the burden of. It was clear that Donna knew something was wrong, but she kept talking in an attempt to brush away the behavior, "Nah, never-mind Felspoon. You know who I'd like to meet? Charlie Chaplin. I've heard he's great, Charlie Chaplin. Shall we do that? Shall we go and see Charlie Chaplin?" She picked up a phone and held it to her ear, "Shall we? Charlie Chaplin? Charlie Chester, Charlie Brown. No, he's fiction, friction, fiction, fixen, mixen, rixten, brixton—"

With a clatter, the phone fell out of her hands and she doubled over with a painful gasp. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her supporting her as she held her head, "Do you know what's happening?"

It took a long time, but Donna finally whimpered, "Yes."

"There's never been a Human-Time Lord metacrisis before now. And you know why."

"Because there can't be." She moved out of the Doctor's grasp and started to fiddle with the control, hiding her eyes, "I want to stay."

"Look at me," of course, Donna didn't turn, but that didn't stop the Doctor from pressing it, "Donna. Look at me."

She turned, and from her spot Kayla could see her shoulders set with defiance, "I was gonna be with you...forever."

"I know."

"The rest of my life...travelling...in the TARDIS. The Doctor-Donna," Kayla hated to see the realization dawning on her face, the way her voice broke as she shook her head and started to back away from the Doctor, "I can't go back. Don't make me go back. Doctor...please. Please, don't make me go back."

"Donna. Oh, Donna Noble. I am so, so sorry. But we had the best of times. The best. Goodbye."

At some point during the process of the Doctor wiping Donna's memories, Kayla started to cry. Even when it was over and Donna fell in his arms, unconscious, Kayla continued to cry, and slowly, the Doctor joined her as well. They could only linger in their shared grief for a few moments before they had to bring the TARDIS to the front of her house. The Doctor carried her out while Kayla hammered on the door until Donna's grandfather, an enthusiastic grin on his face, threw it open. Upon the sight in front of him, his grin disappeared.

* * *

It was only after Donna had been laid on her bed that the Time Lords explained what had happened to Donna's mother and grandfather. Haltingly, their hands connected, they went through the details, "She took my mind into her own head. But that's a Time Lord consciousness. All that knowledge – it was killing her," the Doctor said.

"But she'll get better, now?" Donna's grandfather asked.

"She was going to die unless her memories were…hidden," Kayla said carefully, "That was the only way to save her life."

"Every trace of me or the TARDIS...everything we did together, anywhere we went...had to go."

Donna's grandfather shook his head, but it was clear that the motion was from sorrow, not disbelief, "All those wonderful things she did."

"I know," the Doctor's voice cracked as he carried on, "But that version of Donna is dead."

"You can't ever tell her about us," Kayla cautioned, "Those memories can still come back if she's pushed hard enough. Just one second and she'll burn up. For the rest of her life  _we_ never existed."

"But the whole world's talking about it. We traveled across space!" Donna's mother protested.

"It'll just be a story. One of those Donna Noble stories where she missed it all again."

While Donna's mother showed her emotions through fear and anger, Donna's grandfather just showed them with tears. It was through those tears that he said mournfully, "She was better with you." When Donna's mother started to protest, he snapped, "No, she  _was."_

"I just want you to know that there are worlds out there, safe in the sky, because of her. That there are people living in the light, singing songs of Donna Noble, a thousand million light-years away...they will never forget her. While she can never remember," the Doctor's voice broke and he had to swallow hard before he could continue, "And for one moment...one shining moment...she was the most important woman in the whole wide universe."

"She still is. She's my daughter."

"Then maybe you should tell her that once in a while," the snap was hardly surprising coming from Kayla, and she watched with grim satisfaction as Donna's mother recoiled back from it as if she had been slapped, "She  _constantly_ put herself down in every conversation. It shouldn't have taken a brain of a Time Lord for her to show a  _bit_ of confidence. Where do you think she got the idea that she was worthless?"

Donna's mother wasn't able to respond, for the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs was the only preparation for the occupants in the room before Donna Noble, holding her phone, burst into the room and started to rant, utterly oblivious to the tense situation she had walked in on, "I was asleep, ON my bed, IN my clothes, like a flippin' kid! What did you let me do that for?!" She hardly glanced over at the Doctor and Kayla, "Don't mind me. Donna."

The Doctor and Kayla stood, their hands still together as the Doctor held out his free hand, "John Smith and my wife, Kayla Smith."

Shaking his hand, no recognition flashed in Donna's eyes as she started ranting once more, "My phone's gone mad! Thirty-two texts, Veena's gone barmy, she's saying planets in the sky - WHAT have I missed now?" Looking up from her phone, she only now registered what her mother had said about the Smiths leaving, but all she did was gave them a vague smile, "Nice to meet you," and then she was gone, not seeing the way the Doctor's and Kayla's strained smiles faltered immediately.

"Like I said: I think you should go."

They didn't leave just yet. They followed Donna to her kitchen and then stood in the doorway, uncertain. She was on her phone, jabbing away with some friend who was trying to desperately convince her that there  _had_ been planets in the sky.

"Donna? We were just going," the Doctor said weakly.

"Yeah. See ya."

It was clear that would be only goodbye they would get from Donna, so they walked through the house. The Doctor paused to look back at his companion, but she was oblivious to his gaze. He turned away, and together, the couple slipped out the door, only to be greeted by a sadden Wilfred who was watching the rain.

"Ah...you'll have quite a bit of this. Atmospheric disturbance. Still, it'll pass," The Doctor frowned and shook his head, "Everything does."

Wilfred's concern was heavy, and though the Doctor and Kayla bid him farewell, he stood out on the porch, watching them as they walked into the rain and to their TARDIS, "Oh Doctor, Kayla." When the two had turned to face him he said, his voice wavering, "I know you got all those friends of yours, but…but I'll watch out for the both of you too."

"You can't ever tell her," the Doctor pressed in response.

"No, no, no," Wilfred agreed, "But every night, Doctor...when it gets dark...and the stars come out...I'll look up. On her behalf. I'll look up at the sky and think of you," his voice cracked at the end, but the Doctor and Kayla made no comment about it.

There was a beat of silence as the Time Lords stood in the rain and took in Wilfred's lined face framed with compassion that neither felt they deserved, "Thank you," the Doctor finally said.

With Wilfred watching them, the Doctor and Kayla turned and walked into the TARDIS. They were thoroughly soaked, but neither had the energy to do anything about that. They barely had enough energy to leave the Nobles' house, but that was something they had to do because the sight of the police box might make Donna remember.

At some point, they'd be able to start up again. At some point, Kayla and the Doctor would land on some planet, somewhere, and adventure into the unknown future. It would just be the two of them, the last Time Lord and the last Time Lady living out their last bit together because the Doctor's song was ending.

**To be continued in Return With The Doctor**

* * *

**I cannot believe this book is actually over. When I started writing this book, I thought that I would never finish it, yet here we are. It nearly took me a year, but at 13 chapters and 110,000 some-odd words, Away From The Doctor is done. Thankfully, Kayla isn't! Return With The Doctor will cover the series 4 specials as well as Miracle Day from Torchwood. I'm currently considering it 4.5 out of the Kayla Hark Series, but that might change when I start actually writing it.**

**While Kayla is on pause, I will still have new content. Protectors of the Rest will be up here in about 10 weeks, which is the second book of my Ronan/OC series, the Orbs Collection. If you're a fan of Guardians of the Galaxy or Marvel, then feel free to check it out. Galaxy, the OC, is kinda similar to Kayla, but they're also two very different women.**

**After I'm done with Protectors of the Rest, I'm going to do the next book in the Master's Sequence, Oblivion, which is a very light Doctor/OC. The OC, Dezi, is very different from Kayla, and she's a lot of fun to write.**

**Only then do I start with Return With The Doctor, so it will definitely be a bit until Kayla is back. Keep an eye on my profile page on fanfiction net or here, and on my tumbler, ultramasterdoctor, for updates.**


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